Pentagon Grounds F-35 Fleet After Runway Fire

(CNN) -- The Pentagon has made the call to ground the F-35 fleet after a recent runway fire at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

www.cnn.com...

So much for the UK trip. Stupid, it's a one off engine failure. It happens.

Interesting. Sounds as if it may be a problem that can effect almost any one of the jets..

a reply to: rickymouse

It's an engine problem. It can affect any plane. Engines fail. You have something spinning at extremely high RPM, under a lot of pressure, and subjected to extreme heat, and that's before you add in the hydraulic system, the power system, etc.

It's happened before.. AF probably wants to stay ahead of any potential epidemic.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Shouldn't we say that it is an engineering, maintenance, pilot error, asphalt under the exhaust, etc. problem?

a reply to: Aliensun

Hell, could be any of those. Could have suffered FOD ingestion, could have missed something on manufacture (this was a new bird), could have missed something in maintenance (saw that often enough). All I've heard so far is that there were engine parts on the runway behind the plane. Until they tear it down they won't know for certain, but that sounds a lot like a one off engine issue, which is also what the military has been saying it appears to be.

it will be blamed on Acft Maintenance until it can be conclusively proven otherwise.

co-worker when I first came in launched the B-52 that crashed at Fairchild, they tried very hard to get him to admit to wrongdoing and all he did was marshal the plane out.

a reply to: Irishhaf

That was them trying to protect themselves because they knew once the pilots previous record came out, quite a few heads would roll, quite deservedly too. That SOB should have been grounded four times prior to killing that crew.

I dont know... everyone says thats one crappy plane. There must be a reason for it.

They also say thats so successor to anything the AF has right now... not in the US or anywhere in the world.

a reply to: Zaphod58
Foil hat on, is there a chance this is a press release to make other countries think they are grounded so we can fly and test their stealth ability?

I have heard some sober reasoning why these planes are not what would serve our (Canadas) best interest .Cost and maintenance being only just one .So far they they seem to have issues and really haven't been worked as hard as they may be required to in the future .They have only been shadow boxing up until now .What happens if and when they really need to out perform the other guys chops ?

originally posted by: the2ofusr1
I have heard some sober reasoning why these planes are not what would serve our (Canadas) best interest .Cost and maintenance being only just one .So far they they seem to have issues and really haven't been worked as hard as they may be required to in the future .They have only been shadow boxing up until now .What happens if and when they really need to out perform the other guys chops ?

Or the fact that they are not practical for interception missions over our vast aerospace territory? In order to make them practical for that role we would have to spend even more money to establish refuelling tankers just so these jets can get from one side of the country to the other. Or better yet waste our money on them and sign away more of our sovereignty by just giving our airspace right to the Americans so they can do national defense for us while we sit back and twiddle our thumbs.

GOOD.. those planes are notoriously dangerous

Oh we wouldn't just give it to them . I am sure our Govt. wouldn't mind handing over a few Billion a year to them while at the same time we probably could get Russia to do it for free lol :>) a reply to: Vovin

a reply to: miniatus

Based on WHAT? This is the first serious accident that one has had since they started testing.

Zaph as a personal view, considering you know the in's and out's of almost every aircraft is the f35 beginning to look like a waste of money and time? Genuine question

a reply to: ThePeaceMaker

Honestly, it's incredibly necessary, so no matter what it has to be bought. Will it be what they say? No. Is it a waste of money? Ask the pilots it will help save of there's a war.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: ThePeaceMaker

Honestly, it's incredibly necessary, so no matter what it has to be bought. Will it be what they say? No. Is it a waste of money? Ask the pilots it will help save of there's a war.

Zaph... yer prolly the first person I see implying the F35 is a good investment or a good plane. 99% of people just say that the 16 is better and that the 35 is target practice for migs, eurofighters, and so on, and on, and on...

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Aliensun

Hell, could be any of those. Could have suffered FOD ingestion, could have missed something on manufacture (this was a new bird), could have missed something in maintenance (saw that often enough). All I've heard so far is that there were engine parts on the runway behind the plane. Until they tear it down they won't know for certain, but that sounds a lot like a one off engine issue, which is also what the military has been saying it appears to be.

If it was FOD ingestion the damage would be in the compressor section not in the turbine section like reported wouldn't it?