Jet fleet grounded after pilots forced to eject before Qld crash
The Air Force will ground its entire fleet of Super Hornets and Growlers after two pilots ejected just moments before a crash at Amberley air base.
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Defence has grounded 35 fighter jets as it sends investigators to the RAAF Base Amberley after two air crew were forced to eject from an FA/18F Super Hornet on takeoff yesterday.
Defence Minister Linday Reynolds said grounding the full fleet of 24 Super Hornets, as well as 11 EA18G Growlers, was done out of “an abundance of caution” while the incident was investigated.
Royal Australian Air Force chief Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld said both air crew were reported to be well but all flying operations for the jets had “ceased”.
“This is a sophisticated piece of machinery and it’s an incident that occurred at one of the most critical points or phases of flight,” he said.
“We have an investigation team that will arrive in Amberley this morning and they will commence an investigation to find out what the cause of the ejection was and we’ll report through that in good time.”
Yesterday’s incident occured when an FA-18F Super Hornet fighter took off about 2.30pm as part of a training exercise.
It’s understood there was a problem with the jet’s nose wheel, which triggered an automatic ejection system.
“Defence can confirm that an incident involving an Air Force F/A-18F Super Hornet has occurred during takeoff at RAAF base Amberley,” a Defence spokesperson said in a statement yesterday.
“Defence’s first priority is the safety of personnel at RAAF base Amberley. Defence will provide more information once the immediate actions associated with the incident are completed.
“The aircrew ejected and are safe.
“No other personnel were involved in the incident.
“The cause of the incident is not known at this time and will be subject to investigation,” it said.
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