Navy Parachute Riggers — PRs — maintained, inspected, and repaired the ejection seat systems, parachutes, personnel restraint systems, oxygen equipment, and survival gear for Navy and Marine Corps aviation personnel. PR billets were concentrated at naval air stations with aviation squadrons — primarily in the Aircrew Survival Equipment (ASE) shops at carrier air wing bases — where PRs maintained the ejection seat systems of fleet aircraft and the parachutes and survival equipment carried by all aircrews. PRs working in these survival equipment shops accumulated asbestos exposure from two sources: the older building construction of the naval air stations where they worked, and the asbestos-containing materials used in some ejection seat and survival equipment components of older aircraft types.

Ejection Seat and Aircraft Asbestos Exposure

Older Navy aircraft types used asbestos-containing materials in ejection seat and aircraft equipment:

  • Ejection seat thermal insulation — early Martin-Baker and early-design Navy ejection seats used asbestos-containing insulation in the seat construction as fire protection for the occupant during ejection through the canopy or following the ejection cartridge firing. PRs performing ejection seat maintenance and recertification on older seat designs worked with asbestos-containing components in the seat assembly
  • Aircraft fire protection components — heat-resistant components in the ejection sequence and in aircraft cockpit fire protection used asbestos-containing thermal protection materials in 1950s and 1960s aircraft designs. PRs maintaining the survival equipment associated with these older aircraft encountered asbestos-containing components in the aircraft fire protection and ejection sequence system

Parachute Loft Building Environment

PRs worked in the parachute loft and survival equipment shops at naval air stations:

  • Older parachute loft buildings — the parachute loft and survival equipment shop buildings at older naval air stations — particularly WWII-era installations — were housed in 1940s-era construction with asbestos-containing floor tile, ceiling tile, and mechanical system insulation in the building interiors. PRs spending their workday in these older buildings accumulated ambient asbestos exposure from the building construction materials
  • Station building asbestos — PRs at WWII-era naval air stations throughout the fleet accumulated asbestos exposure from the building construction materials of the stations where they worked, consistent with the building asbestos exposure profile of all personnel stationed at older naval air installations

VA Claims for PR Veterans

VA evaluates asbestos-related disability claims on a case-by-case basis. Veterans generally need evidence of in-service asbestos exposure, a current asbestos-related diagnosis, and a medical link between them. Parachute Riggers who served at WWII-era naval air stations or maintained older ejection seat systems and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.