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He may share the same name as the late Australian zoo keeper and television personality Steve Irwin – but Nottingham’s version has a love of aircraft, not animals.
Known to his friends as ‘Croc’, Steve, 44, from Carrington, is set to appear on a new eight-part documentary looking at life at East Midlands Airport.
The civil engineer is constantly up against the clock as he attempts to repair the Castle Donington airport’s only runway which is used 24 hours a day.
He said: “It is being hammered by hundreds and thousands of tonnes of cargo and planes a day. We have one runway and we have no time to work on it.
“Most runways shut at midnight until 6am, but we are open 24 hours a day.
“We only have about 24 hours a year where we can shut the airfield and carry out work.”
During the first episode of Mega Air, which will be broadcast on the Dave channel, Steve and his team work under critical conditions when repair work is needed on a thoroughfare to the runway.
“We had to shut part of the airfield down in the day. It was time critical.
“You have Triple Sevens (Boeing 777s) coming in and 747s carrying freight – they have set paths and that was the main section they had to go through.
“It’s about the utmost standard and safety because we have people’s lives in our hands here.
“The next time a plane sets off that could be your brother or mother. We can’t do a half job.”
He said the lifespan of a runway is about three and a half years – and there are no plans at the airport to build another one.
Steve, who attended St Mary’s in Hyson Green as a child, started his career on a freelance basis working on roads, power stations and airports.
He was even involved in the tram bridge over Nottingham’s Railway Station.
Four years ago, he was involved in a massive runway renewal project at East Midlands Airport.
They shut the runway on Saturday nights while 50,000 tonnes of tarmac was laid by 1,000 people.
He is now employed by the airport and his main role is maintenance.
“It can be everything from repairing a hole in the runway up to a £150m United Parcel Service Project – a new building which will be their hub for Europe.”
Discussing his name, he laughs: “Everyone has nicknames, and when you turn up and say your name is Steve Irwin, ‘Croc’ stuck.”
The eight-part programme focuses on the airport’s cargo operation. It is one of the busiest dedicated cargo airports in the UK, second only to Heathrow.
Companies such as DHL, FedEx and Royal Mail are based at the airport and many others operate flights from there.
The series will start on Dave at 2pm on Saturday October 26.
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