UPDATE 1-
US Navy grounds 104 older F/A-18 fighter jets
Fri Mar 12, 2010 3:50pm
EST* Testing showed cracking in older planes
* Wednesday accident with F/A-18 not related
WASHINGTON, March 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy said on Friday that it grounded 104 older model F/A-18 fighter jets built by Boeing Co (
BA.N) after tests revealed earlier-than-expected cracking in the airframes.
The Navy's Naval Air Systems Command cited an emerging "safety of flight issue" with legacy F/A-18 A through D Hornets, after inspections revealed cracking had occurred earlier than predicted on some of the planes.
The grounding affects 104 of the 635 A through D model F/A-18 fighters the Navy owns because they exceed the life limit for this particular area of the aircraft as demonstrated in tests, said Navy spokesman Lieutenant Nate Christensen.
That means they had the highest potential for cracks in this location on the airframe.
Of the 104 aircraft, 27 are in maintenance and 77 are in flight status, including five deployed in Iwakuni, Japan and five assigned to the Navy's Blue Angels.
At this time, there is no impact on aircraft supporting operations in Iraq or Afghanistan, Christensen said.
He said preliminary investigation results indicated a U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18 mishap on Wednesday in Beaufort, South Carolina, was not related or caused by this issue.
An F/A-18 fighter pilot and his weapons officer had to eject from their aircraft after both engines failed and a fire broke out. The Coast Guard rescued both of them.
Christensen said the Navy had ordered a magnetic field inspection of all 104 aircraft, and said they would be returned to full flight status if no cracks were found, with recurring inspections to be carried out every 100 flight hours.
If a magnetic field inspection were unavailable, the Navy would perform a visual inspection, he said.
The planes would be allowed to continuing flying, but not faster than 4Gs, and they would have to be inspected again visually every day, he
addedhttp://www.reuters.com/article/idU ... 7920100312
