The United States suspends F-35 Operations (WORLD WIDE)

Real World Aviation
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BREAKING

The U.S. Dept. of Defense has temporarily halted all F-35 fighter jet operations worldwide after the plane’s first crash last month in South Carolina. The issue cited are faulty engine fuel tubes.
All F-35s will be inspected over the next 48 hours and if the fuel tubes are rated in “good condition” that jet will be returned to flight. Joe DellaVedova, spokesman for the Pentagon’s F-35 office said the inspections “are expected to be completed within the next 24 to 48 hours.”

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Here is the full statement from the F-35 Joint Program Office :

F-35 Fuel Tube Inspection and Flight Operations

The U.S. Services and international partners have temporarily suspended F-35 flight operations while the enterprise conducts a fleet-wide inspection of a fuel tube within the engine on all F-35 aircraft. If suspect fuel tubes are installed, the part will be removed and replaced. If known good fuel tubes are already installed, then those aircraft will be returned to flight status. Inspections are expected to be completed within the next 24 to 48 hours.

The action to perform the inspection is driven from initial data from the ongoing investigation of the F-35B that crashed in the vicinity of Beaufort, South Carolina on 28 September. The aircraft mishap board is continuing its work and the U.S. Marine Corps will provide additional information when it becomes available.

The primary goal following any mishap is the prevention of future incidents. We will take every measure to ensure safe operations while we deliver, sustain and modernize the F-35 for the warfighter and our defense partners.

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Wow! Should be Interesting to see how this will unfold.

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That’s kind of a shocker, I didn’t see that coming. Good thing they’re choosing to do this to ensure the safety of the pilots operating the aircraft.
I wonder how long all of this will take…how will they do it in 24-48 hours?

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Some Enlisted guys are placed on Mandatory over time today lol

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F-35s are operational again and clear to fly!

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Oh so it wasn’t a long term thing lol

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I went to Luke AFB in AZ last month, and many F-35’s were stationed there. I even got to touch them… That is bad for the F-35.

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Surely touching them, can’t be bad for the F-35. How hard did you hit it? ;-)

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I didn’t really hit it because the one I touched was getting repaired

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Seems pretty early for them to be crashing already…what an expensive plane to lose with only one combat mission in the entire fleet so far.

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You got to touch them! At wings over Pittsburgh a bit back we were kept like 20 ft back, and there were two armed guards…

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Cheap parts break early

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Big shock! I wonder how this is going to affect the fleet of F 35’s

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But they were made in China…

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This is suprising to see! Let’s hope they learn a lesson about buying cheap parts.

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Lowest bidder = cheapest part = breaks easy

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