Pentagon grounds all stealth F-35 fighter jets over cracked engine blade
23 Feb 2013
The Pentagon yesterday temporarily grounded all its stealth new F-35 fighter jets, the US military's most expensive aircraft, after discovering a cracked blade in the engine during a routine inspection in California.
All F-35 fighter jets used by the US Air Force, the Navy and the Marines have been suspended until the investigation is complete, the Pentagon said in a statement.
The Pentagon said that on a routine engine inspection on a test plane, a crack was noticed on an engine blade of the F-35 engine installed in F-35A aircraft AF-2 operating at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
"It is too early to know the fleet-wide impact of the recent finding," it said, and added that it is working closely with engine manufacturers Pratt & Whitney and Lockheed Martin at all F-35 locations ''to ensure the integrity of the engine, and to return the fleet safely to flight as soon as possible.''
The US combined forces currently have 51 planes in their F-35 fleet.
The Pentagon is sending the engine's turbine module and its associated hardware to Pratt & Whitney's Engine Facility in Connecticut, to conduct more thorough evaluation and root cause analysis, it said in the statement.
