A-10s Still Grounded; Problems Unresolved

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
Arizona Daily Star (Tucson)
October 17, 2008
Pg. 1

By Carol Ann Alaimo, Arizona Daily Star
Two weeks have passed since dozens of military jets were grounded at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, and engineers still haven't figured out how to get them airborne.
More than 40 percent of D-M's fleet of A-10 attack jets have been sidelined since Oct. 3, when the Air Force announced the planes were prone to wing cracks and ordered them to stay put until inspections and repairs took place.
Since then, 34 D-M jets have been inspected, and "all 34 were found to have cracks in the wings," said 1st Lt. Mary Pekas, a base spokeswoman.
A 35th aircraft, identified after the original Air Force order, is still awaiting inspection.
One of the D-M jets with cracked wings "has been deemed flyable" by Air Force engineers because the problem was minor, Pekas said.
That warplane is back in service and will be monitored to see that the cracks don't get worse, she said.
D-M can't say when its other grounded jets will be fixed because engineers at Hill Air Force Base in Utah, who are charged with finding a remedy, are still working on it.
George Jozens, a spokesman for the Utah base, which houses the Air Force's main A-10 repair depot, said engineers "are working very hard" to find a fix.
"Safety is our main concern," Jozens said. "We are going to do the right thing and make sure the aircraft is serviceable before it is put back in the air."
Undetected, the cracks could cause wings to fall off an aircraft during the rigors of flight, experts say.
Whatever solution is found will have to last for several years. More than 200 sets of new A-10 wings are on order under a $2 billion contract the Air Force awarded last year to the Boeing Co. of St. Louis. Delivery is scheduled to start in 2011.
The new wings will be installed on A-10s with thin-skin wings. All the recently grounded A-10s have thin-skin wings installed during original manufacture, the service has said.
D-M has 47 other A-10s unaffected by the wing problem. With 82 of the jets in total, the Tucson base is home to the world's largest fleet of the aircraft and is the nation's main training site for A-10 pilots.
Before the groundings, D-M averaged 60 to 70 training flights a day. If the Air Force doesn't find answers soon, some pilots now in training may not graduate on time. Pekas said the impact on pilot training will depend on how long the planes are out of commission.
The Air Force has said it is giving priority to fixing A-10s supporting military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Renowned for its effectiveness in providing close air support to U.S. ground troops, the A-10 has been a workhorse in recent wars. About 400 of the aircraft are in use worldwide and 130 of them were grounded by the recent Air Force order.
Introduced in 1975, the jets have surpassed their normal life span and have been refurbished to keep them in service. Production ceased in the mid-1980s.
 
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