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  • Pentagon grounds F-35 fleet

    U.S. grounds entire F-35 fleet pending engine inspections
    July 4, 2014



    The U.S. military said it had grounded the entire fleet of 97 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jets until completion of additional inspections of the warplane's single engine built by Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp. The Pentagon's F-35 program office, Air Force and Navy issued directives on Thursday ordering the suspension of all F-35 flights after a June 23 fire on an Air Force F-35A jet at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. The Pentagon said U.S. and industry officials had not pinpointed the cause of the fire, which occurred as a pilot was preparing for takeoff. The pilot was not injured.

    Pratt & Whitney said it was working closely with Air Force officials who are investigating the fire and are inspecting all engines in the fleet. Spokesman Jay DeFrank said it would be inappropriate to comment further since the incident was the subject of an investigation. The Pentagon's F-35 program office has made determining the cause of the fire its highest priority and it is assessing the impact on flight tests, training and operations of the radar-evading warplane. A person familiar with the situation said it was premature to rule in or out any quality problem or manufacturing defect.

    Reuters reported on Wednesday that U.S. and British authorities were preparing directives ordering a mandatory engine inspection estimated to take about 90 minutes. British officials remained part of the discussions with U.S. officials and concurred with the U.S. recommendation to ground the jets, pending further inspection results, the F-35 program office said. The Pentagon said preparations were continuing for F-35 jets to participate in two UK air shows later this month, but a final decision would be made early next week. The fire has already derailed plans for an F-35 jet to fly by a naming ceremony for Britain's new aircraft carrier on Friday.
    Source: Reuters
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  • #2
    This is a such tragedy...

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by Versus View Post
      This is a such tragedy...
      That's putting it politely. Massive cluster fuck disguised as bad comedy would be less charitable.
      “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by TopHatter View Post
        That's putting it politely. Massive cluster fuck disguised as bad comedy would be less charitable.
        Gonna disagree.

        This is exactly what needs to happen and where it needs to happen.

        I want these jets to catch fire, malfunction and have everything imaginable go wrong while they are at Eglin.
        Thats why they are there. Its a test squadron that is working out the bugs before they hit the street. And thats exactly whats happening.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Gun Grape View Post
          Gonna disagree.

          This is exactly what needs to happen and where it needs to happen.

          I want these jets to catch fire, malfunction and have everything imaginable go wrong while they are at Eglin.
          Thats why they are there. Its a test squadron that is working out the bugs before they hit the street. And thats exactly whats happening.
          Have to agree with gunny. Besides, every major program in recent memory has had problems. It's better that these things happen during development than during operational use. Remember:

          One of the development prototypes of the F-22 had that crashed on take off due to avionics issues. Later the hypoxia issue cost at least one pilot his life.
          A B-2 crashed at take off at Anderson after water entered air-data sensors on the skin after heavy rains.
          An F-15 snapped half during supersonic flight a few years back due to unforseen wear on the airframe.
          V-22 crashes killed 36 Marines and test pilots during its development.
          Over 100 Harriers have crashed since development: List of Harrier Jump Jet family losses - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

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