Contractor mistakes caused JSTARS damage

Four E-8C aircraft suffered damage to their radar and components due to mistakes by contractors at Northrop Grumman. The damages were listed as Class A for one aircraft, and Class C or D for the others. The Class A mishap aircraft suffered over $7M in damages.

Contractors at the Northrop Lake Charles facility plugged drain holes in the radar fairing and failed to remove the plugs after washing it. Other Northrop contractors were supposed to sign off on preflight checks of the aircraft that included checking the drain holes. Four preflight inspections were signed off in July, without unplugging the drain holes.

After washing, water collected in the fairing, until a short occurred. Prior to that, significant corrosion began occurring. Over 4 inches of rain and wash water collected in the bottom of the fairing.

www.airforcetimes.com...

That's going to be hard to explain

a reply to: Bedlam

We used to get our jets back from the Depot and put then straight into phase. Took anywhere from 7 to 10 days to find and fix all their mistakes.

I'm assuming some people will be getting fired?

a reply to: Arnie123

You're kidding, right? At worst they'll get a reprimand and "retrained".

I've seen some godawful accidents from the Depot, resulting in lives and aircraft lost, and the only ones that weren't still there after were the ones that couldn't live with their mistake.

originally posted by: Arnie123
I'm assuming some people will be getting fired?

A promotion to management in order to limit the amount of damage they are capable of doing is generally how it's done.