{"id":341591,"date":"2017-12-29T21:19:47","date_gmt":"2017-12-29T20:19:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/exploding-engine-cripples-us-air-forces-spy-fleet-rt-us-news\/"},"modified":"2017-12-29T21:19:47","modified_gmt":"2017-12-29T20:19:47","slug":"exploding-engine-cripples-us-air-forces-spy-fleet-rt-us-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/exploding-engine-cripples-us-air-forces-spy-fleet-rt-us-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploding engine cripples US Air Force\u2019s spy fleet \u2014 RT US News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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US Air Force has scrambled to repair its fleet of surveillance planes after a decades-old jet\u2019s engine exploded and damaged a number of other aircraft at a busy airbase. Four airmen were also injured in the accident.<\/p>\n

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The Air Force\u2019s Safety Investigation Board arrived at Warner Robins Air Force Base in Georgia on Thursday to begin a review of the December 19 incident<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to the Air Force, an E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) aircraft experienced engine failure<\/a> during a maintenance test run on a crowded ramp near the runway. Debris from the plane\u2019s engine struck at least three other aircraft \u2013 grounding approximately one-third of the US Air Force\u2019s ground surveillance fleet. The Air Force has sixteen JSTARS in its inventory, but only twelve are believed to be mission-capable at any given time.<\/p>\n

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Read more<\/p>\n


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Three of damaged E-8C planes returned to mission ready status on Sunday, and a fourth should be mission ready soon, according to a statement from the 116th Air Control Wing<\/a>. Four airmen were also evaluated for injuries sustained during the accident.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonnel from the 461st and 116th Air Control Wings, who operate and maintain the Joint STARS fleet, worked day and night to restore three of the aircraft to mission ready status as well as clear debris jettisoned from the faulty engine off the ramp and parking areas. The fourth aircraft is expected to return to mission ready status after the holiday,\u201d<\/em> the air wing said.<\/p>\n

Northrop Grumman\u2019s JSTARS is a modified Boeing 707-300 that serves as an airborne surveillance and command and control platform. After decades of service, the Air Force is considering a plan<\/a> to replace its aging JSTARS fleet with new aircraft, outfitted with a more advanced radar. \u00a0<\/p>\n

In March, an E-8C suffered water damage<\/a> to its radar antenna and other electrical systems after Northrop Grumman maintenance contractors forgot to open up drain holes in the plane\u2019s radar dome. The oversight ended up costing the Air Force $2 million in repairs.<\/p>\n

Last year, the Air Force grounded four JSTARS<\/a> aircraft after discovering quality control issues at a Northrop maintenance depot in Lake Charles, Louisiana.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Via RT<\/a>. This piece was reprinted by RINF Alternative News<\/a> with permission or license.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Published time: 29 Dec, 2017 19:11 US Air Force has scrambled to repair its fleet of surveillance planes after a decades-old jet\u2019s engine exploded and damaged a number of other aircraft at a busy airbase. Four airmen were also injured in the accident. The Air Force\u2019s Safety Investigation Board arrived at Warner Robins Air Force […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":341592,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[519],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-341591","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-newswire"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}