USAF Grounds F-35 Fleet Over Faulty Component Written 1 August 2022
An F-35A Lightning II aircraft | U.S. Air Force photo by MSgt John Nimmo Sr.; Wikipedia; Public Domain
Bloomberg reported that the “US Air Force has grounded its fleet of F-35 jets temporarily, citing a potentially faulty component in the ejection seat that could endanger pilots in an emergency, a concern that also grounded other types of military planes that are used in training.” In a statement, Air Combat Command spokeswoman Alexi Worley said that the “issue involves the explosive cartridges inside ejection seats that help propel the seat – and the pilot – from the plane during an emergency.” Breaking Defense reported that Worley said, “ACC’s F-35s do have Martin-Baker ejection seats, and on July 19, began a Time Compliance Technical Directive to inspect all of the cartridges on the ejection seat within 90 days. … Out of an abundance of caution, ACC units will execute a stand-down on July 29 to expedite the inspection process. Based on data gathered from those inspections, ACC will make a determination to resume operations.”
Full Story (Bloomberg)
Full Story (Breaking Defense)