Most US F-35s Temporarily Grounded As Ejection Seat Issue Threatens Jets Worldwide – IOTW Report

Most US F-35s Temporarily Grounded As Ejection Seat Issue Threatens Jets Worldwide

Military Times: The U.S. military discovered a problem with the ejection seats used across its F-35 Joint Strike Fighter fleet in April, but waited three months to ground those aircraft flown by the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps to fully investigate the issue, multiple sources told Air Force Times Friday.

Officials initially saw the problem as a potentially isolated incident. But an ongoing investigation sourced the issue to the production line, prompting waves of temporary stand-downs this week.

“During a routine maintenance inspection at Hill [Air Force Base, Utah,] in April ‘22, an anomaly was discovered with one of the seat cartridge actuated devices in the F-35 seat,” Steve Roberts, a spokesperson for seat manufacturer Martin-Baker, said Friday. “This was quickly traced back to a gap in the manufacturing process, which was addressed and changed.” more here h/t Brad.

15 Comments on Most US F-35s Temporarily Grounded As Ejection Seat Issue Threatens Jets Worldwide

  1. Spent time in the Hill AFB area last coupla days. Seemed strange to not hear the sound of freedom. This splains it. Went thru similar event with F-4s. Back seater blown out over the gulf. Ejection handles still in SAFE. All F-4s grounded. About a year later that F-4 (tail number 804) was transferred to us, still had dent in vertical stab where seat hit.

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  2. Pentagon – Sorry Taiwan, none of our F-35s are airworthy. We have a few WWI biplanes in museums that we could refurbish and get them off the ground. Would that help? Let us know if there is anything else we can do. We’re always ready to help a friend.

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