The US Navy has announced it is grounding all of its T-45 training jets for at least the next two days, because dozens of instructors are refusing to fly in them over safety concerns related to problems with the oxygen systems.
Reports emerged yesterday that over 100 instructors were refusing to fly in the jets and were claiming “urgent problems” with the planes’ oxygen systems, which they said that the Navy leadership was refusing to address.
The problem has apparently been growing for years, with recent testimony from top naval pilots saying that the number of physical symptoms that people were experiencing related to oxygen system problems in the T-45 had quadrupled over the past five years.
The testimony fueled some criticism within Congress, and demands that the Navy get to the bottom of the matter, though it appears that the growing number of instructors refusing to fly in them was the tipping point for the leadership, which insists they grounded the planes for “safety” reasons.
A proven system on a proven jet suddenly doesn’t work? Sound like they made an upgrade to the On Board Oxygen Generating System and its not working out the way it didn’t for the F-22s.
Oxygen generator problems became a crisis recently with the loss of some aircraft from extreme examples. Until planes crashed, they just swept it under the rug. Now it gets attention. It is important to understand that the problem is not new, only the attention to it is new, and that is only because it has been killing pilots.
Throw them all in jail for disobeying orders. This kind of diversion can’t be tolerated with the run-up to war with Syria in the initial planning stages..
Now let’s ground all the F-35 stealth fighters.