F-16 and F-35 flying together-U.S. Air Force photo/Jim Hazeltine U.S. Air Force has grounded 82 two-seat F-16D jets following discovery ...
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| F-16 and F-35 flying together-U.S. Air Force photo/Jim Hazeltine |
U.S. Air Force has grounded 82 two-seat F-16D jets following discovery of canopy sill longeron cracks found between the front and rear pilot seats.
The cracks were discovered following an immediate action time compliance technical order, or TCTO, to inspect all F-16D due to initial structural cracks discovered during post-mission flight inspections.
Following the TCTO, individual F-16 units conducted inspections on 157 F-16Ds to ensure the structural integrity of the aircraft and pilot safety.
As of Aug. 18, USAF has completed the inspection of all fighters. Eighty-two were found to have cracks and the remaining 75 aircraft have been returned to flight status. The other F-16 variants remain unaffected.
The Air Force F-16 Systems Program Office and Lockheed Martin engineers are analyzing the F-16 structure and developing repair procedures to allow aircraft with cracks to resume operations for a limited number of flight hours while analysis continues on a permanent fix.
"As aircraft accumulate flight hours, cracks develop due to fatigue from sustained operations," said Lt. Col. Steve Grotjohn, the deputy chief of the Weapon System Division. "Fortunately, we have a robust maintenance, inspection and structural integrity program to discover and repair deficiencies as they occur."
The Air Force is also working with its F-16D operational units to mitigate the impact on operations, training and readiness.
The two seat F-16D variant of the F-16 is primarily used for training and has an average age of 24 years with more than 5,500 hours of flight time. There are a total of 969 F-16s of all variants in the USAF.
