Longeron Problem Found On Another Plane

Inspections now underway by the US Air Force of some 450 F-15 fighter jets have uncovered a serious structural flaw on another plane... resulting in the third grounding in four weeks of a large segment of the service's F-15 fleet.

USAF Secretary Michael Wynne told Reuters of the latest "stand down" Tuesday, during the news service's Aerospace and Defense Summit in Washington, DC. 

As ANN reported, the Air Force last grounded its 452 oldest F-15s in late November... one week after the service had cleared those planes to return to active duty, following an initial grounding in the wake of a November 2 inflight breakup of a Missouri Air National Guard F-15C.

Wynne said metal fatigue experts from the Air Force Research Laboratory found a crack in the upper longeron support of an F-15 Monday evening. The crack was near the aircraft's canopy, in the same general area tied to the November 2 crash.

Ongoing inspections uncovered similar structural failures in three other F-15s, Wynne added.

The Air Force chief says the ongoing problem underscores the need for newer planes... specifically, the F-22 Raptor.

"Our aging fleet and the progression of cracking that we're seeing is just not a good sign," Wynne said. "At some point in time we've got to stand them down and actually go ahead and buy the next-generation fighters."

FMI: www.af.mil