TEHRAN, October 16 -The F-35 Joint Program Office grounded all F-35s worldwide last week to inspect a suspect fuel tube, with JPO saying that more than 80 percent of aircraft have been cleared as of Monday.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) -The F-35 Joint Program Office grounded all F-35s worldwide last week to inspect a suspect fuel tube, with JPO saying that more than 80 percent of aircraft have been cleared as of Monday.
"Pratt and Whitney is rapidly procuring more parts to minimize the overall repair timeline for the remaining jets," JPO told UPI in a statement. "Current inventory will restore about half of the impacted jets to flight operations and the remaining aircraft are expected to be cleared for flight over the coming weeks."
The potentially faulty part was found during investigations into a Sept. 28 crash of a Marine Corps F-35B near the Broad River in Beaufort County, S.C.
While the Marine Corps continues to investigate the Sept. 28, the JPO said it moved quickly to correct the potential problem last week in order to guarantee the safety of operators even before the investigation is finished.
JPO ordered the inspection of all aircraft on Oct. 11, returning those with good tubes to service and replacing faulty tubes in others.
All U.S. services and international partners have resuming flying cleared aircraft -- about 80 percent of operational F-35s worldwide -- having undergone inspection for the fuel tube.
"Pratt and Whitney is rapidly procuring more parts to minimize the overall repair timeline for the remaining jets," JPO told UPI in a statement. "Current inventory will restore about half of the impacted jets to flight operations and the remaining aircraft are expected to be cleared for flight over the coming weeks."
The potentially faulty part was found during investigations into a Sept. 28 crash of a Marine Corps F-35B near the Broad River in Beaufort County, S.C.
While the Marine Corps continues to investigate the Sept. 28, the JPO said it moved quickly to correct the potential problem last week in order to guarantee the safety of operators even before the investigation is finished.
JPO ordered the inspection of all aircraft on Oct. 11, returning those with good tubes to service and replacing faulty tubes in others.
All U.S. services and international partners have resuming flying cleared aircraft -- about 80 percent of operational F-35s worldwide -- having undergone inspection for the fuel tube.
Source: UPI
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