No Date Set For A Resumption Of Flight Operations

A problem with a fuel line prompted the Pentagon to ground all F-35B aircraft last Friday, with no firm date for the resumption of flight operations being set.

The problem reportedly cropped up in a fuel line connected to the exhaust system of the STOVL model of the Joint Strike Fighter. Reuters reports that the system failed before one of the jets took off on a training flight. The innovative fuel line is designed to enable movement of the exhaust system, a function normally handled by heavier hydraulics.

A team that included representatives of Stratoflex, which built the system, first inspected the plane at Florida's Eglin AFB before traveling to the Pratt & Whitney plant in East Hartford, CT, where the JSF's engines are built.

Joe DellaVedova, spokesman for the Pentagon's F-35 program office, said the impact, if any, of the incident on the overall test-flight program is not yet known. But he said the program was recently restructured to extend the timeline in an effort to anticipate issues that came up during the program.

The Pentagon's director of testing and evaluation recently released an 18-page report that indicates there are multiple problems with the new airplane that need to be addressed. The report said the issues show there is a "lack of maturity" in the $396 billion dollar JSF program.

(F-35B at Eglin AFB file photo)

FMI: www.jsf.mil