Recent photos leaked to the media have forced military officials to deal with an alarming epidemic of cracks revealed by helicopter maintenance crews, when inspecting their aircraft (ANN Note: See photo, below, but be sure to check the enlarged version to 'assess' the true impact of the problem).

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld responded forcefully to repeated questions about military air safety and decorum, "We do our best to make sure that the American aviator has the best possible safety and coverage available to them. The kind of carelessness suggested by media reports is an overblown attempt to distract his country from your war on terror and paint our military maintenance crews as unequipped to cover their assets in regards to aviation safety. We'll do whatever we have to do to show our American Servicemen and women that we're behind them all the way."

Media reports have been pretty negative after photographic evidence showed up in numerous print, television and online publications. The attached image clearly shows cracks found during routine inspections of a Kaman Aerospace SH-2 Seasprite helicopter. Pilots and crew of these helicopters were seriously alarmed when this information was released, publicly. Numerous military experts expressed particular concern because the cracks weren't found in just one location -  they were all over the aircraft. "I'm a little freaked," claimed one military official, "there's just no uniformity to it."

FMI: www.coveryourassets.mil