7 Hornets grounded because of cracks - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

7 Hornets grounded because of cracks

Seven F/A-18 Hornets have been grounded due to cracks found in the wing fasteners, but many of the aging fighter jets inspected during the past two weeks have returned to full flight status, a Navy official said Tuesday.

Naval Air Systems Command grounded 104 Navy and Marine F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets March 12 after inspectors discovered that parts of the airframes were developing cracks much earlier than engineers had thought.

Of those 104 aircraft, 82 have been returned to the fleet after inspections revealed no cracks, said Lt. Nate Christensen. Inspections are pending for the remaining aircraft.

The seven planes with cracks will require depot-level maintenance to replace the aft wing shear attach fitting, where the back portion of the main wing attaches to the fuselage, Christensen said.

The cracks came to light during service-life extension inspections that NavAir is conducting for all the aging Hornets to determine how much longer the individual planes can remain in the fleet.

The “red stripe” bulletin that grounded the aircraft underscored the age and condition of the Navy and Marine Corps Hornets.

Navy leaders fear a “fighter gap” in the next few years as the older model Hornets are forced into retirement before the Navy receives newer F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighters to replace them. Those concerns have led Navy leaders to call for buying more F/A-18 Super Hornets to fill the gap.

The inspections affected about 16 percent of the Navy and Marine Corps’ total fleet of about 635 A- through D-model Hornets.