Australia’s new F-35 strike fighters grounded after crash
Defence confirms new F-35 strike fighters have been grounded after crash, as it’s believed half of the global fleet may be faulty.
Australia’s new F-35 strike fighters have been grounded following investigations into a crash involving one of the fifth generation aircraft oeprated by the US Marines last month.
The grounding was reported to be in response to concerns the aircraft may have a faulty part related to fuel supply.
Yesterday the Australian Defence Force (ADF) confirmed F-35 operators including Australia, US and the UK had “paused” flights to enable inspections to be undertaken of the aircraft’s engines .
“Following a recent incident in the United States (United States Marine Corps South Carolina 29 Sep 18) the F-35 fleet has been instructed to conduct safety inspections across all delivered engines,” an ADF spokesman said.
“A number of F-35 operators, including the US, UK and Australia, have paused the flying of their F-35 aircraft to allow the engines to be inspected.
“Australian F-35 aircraft currently based in the US will return to flying operations once safety inspections are complete. Some International partners within the F-35 Program are already commencing flying following conclusion of their inspections.”
The spokesman said the safety inspections would not affect the delivery of aircraft to Australia. The first jets are due to arrive in Australian in December.
The Wall Street Journal reported this morning that much of the global fleet of Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 combat jets was temporarily grounded to investigate engine problems following the Marine Corps plane crash in South Carolina last month.
Officials said the fleet of about 320 jets would undergo inspections over the next 48 hours to check fuel tubes in engines that are made by Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp, according to the Journal.
The decision involves a potentially bad fuel tube and affects more than 250 US-owned jets, as well as nearly 100 that belong to other nations including Britain. About half the F-35s are believed to have the faulty tube, the AP reports.
A Marine F-35B crashed into an uninhabited marsh island near the Grays Hill community in South Carolina on Sept. 28. The Marine pilot safely ejected before the crash.
During the crash investigation, certain fuel tubes were identified as a potential problem, largely involving aircraft built before 2015. Until 2015, two companies manufactured the tubes, and the problem involves just one of them, AP reports. If the aircraft has those particular tubes, they will be replaced. If the aircraft has good fuel tubes, it will be allowed to begin immediately flying again. The F-35 program office said the inspections should be completed in one or two days. Depending on the availability of parts, the fuel tube can be replaced quickly.
John Thomas, spokesman for engine-maker Pratt & Whitney, based in Connecticut, said the company is supporting the Marine Corps investigation into the crash. Because of the ongoing investigation, he said he had no comment on the specifics of the flight disruption.
— with AP
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