Tag: Grounded

US Naval Air Systems Command Grounds V-22 Ospreys After New Incident

Aerotime reports, “The US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) has issued an operational pause for all Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft flights across the US Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force as of December 6, 2024. The decision, first reported by AP, follows a precautionary landing of a US Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) CV-22 Osprey on November 20, 2024, at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico, likely due to a material failure.”
Full Story (Aerotime)

All V-22 Ospreys Grounded After Investigation into Crash Finds Possible Materiel Failure

ExecutiveGov reports that the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) “is working with the U.S. Marine Corps to improve the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft’s survivability and establish its assault-support elements in high-threat situations, National Defense Magazine reported Wednesday.” Col. Matthew Kelly, head of the Department of Defense’s joint V-22 program, “noted that his office is also looking into implementing helmet-mounted visualization technologies for the MV-22 variant for missions in degraded environments.” According to Kelly, “the V-22 production line will accommodate additional orders through fiscal 2023. The governments of Indonesia and Israel are also looking to procure V-22s, he added.”
Full Story (ExecutiveGov)

B-2 Fleet Grounded Following Emergency Landing

The AP reports that the Air Force “has grounded its entire fleet of B-2 stealth bombers following an emergency landing and fire earlier this month, and none of the strategic aircraft will perform flyovers at this years’ college bowl games.” A bomber experienced “an in-flight malfunction on Dec. 10, forcing it to make an emergency landing at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, where it caught fire.” The standdown is “significant in that there are fewer than 20 stealth bombers in the entire fleet and the aircraft provides, along with the B-52 Stratofortress, the air leg of the nation’s nuclear triad.” The B-2 “has been regularly deployed to the Indo-Pacific and more recently to Europe as a show of force.” During the standdown “the entire fleet will be inspected, 509th Bomb Wing spokeswoman Air Force Master Sgt. Beth Del Vecchio said.”
Full Story (Associated Press)

US Army Returns 59.5% of its Chinook Helicopter Fleet to Service Following Grounding

The Hill reports that US Army spokesman Jason Waggoner said that the service now has 59.5 percent of its Chinook helicopter fleet available to support missions and training after grounding the fleet late last month due to fuel leaks. Waggoner said that “though the number could fluctuate day to day, this number continues to increase daily with ongoing logbook records review and a standard leak-check maintenance procedure outlined in an Aviation Safety Action Message published” September 2.
Full Story (The Hill)

FAA Grounds Blue Origin New Shepard Rocket Pending Investigation of Aborted Launch

The Orlando Sentinel reports that the FAA has grounded the Blue Origin New Shepard rocket pending an investigation to “determine whether any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap affected public safety” after the New Shepard suffered a launch mishap about a minute after liftoff. The FAA wrote, “The anomaly that occurred triggered the capsule escape system. The capsule landed safely and the booster impacted within the designated hazard area. No injuries or public property damage have been reported.”
Full Story (Orlando Sentinel)