Suspension Follows The Fatal Injury Of A Pilot Flying An A-29 Super Tucano For The Program

A senior U.S. Air Force official says it has suspended indefinitely the flying portion of its light-attack evaluation program following an accident which resulted in the fatal injury of a pilot.

But Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch, the Air Force’s top uniformed acquisition official, insisted that the experiment will continue without further flying, and in the event that the Pentagon decides to move forward with the Light-Attack program, the Air Force will be ready to put out and RFP by the end of the year. "Right now, we’re still progressing down that path. I’ve not pulled back on the throttle on any way, shape or form in that area right now,” Bunch said.

Defense News reports that the accident last month that fatally injured naval aviator Lt. Christopher Cary Short is under investigation. But Air Force Officials say the accident will not have a major impact on the deliberations about whether to procure an aircraft for light-attack missions.

Bunch said that as the experiment goes forward, the Air Force will consider everything from manpower to the logistics chain to support the new aircraft.

Along with the A-29, the Air Force is evaluating Textron's AT-6 Wolverine. Bunch would not confirm what percentage of the evaluation flights had been completed.

(Image from file)

FMI: Original report