The US Navy has grounded its T-45 fleet of training aircraft for three days while it tries to determine the problems with the planes oxygen system. Fighter Sweep told you about how approximately 100 Navy flight instructors have gone ‘on strike’ refusing to fly the plane due to the potential of oxygen contamination which has been causing hypoxic symptoms.
Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker, commander of Naval Air Forces, ordered the three-day grounding of T-45Cs to allow time to consider ongoing corrective measures, the service announced on April 5. The Navy “is using an ‘unconstrained resources’ approach to the problem, meaning we will not be limited by money or manpower as we diligently work toward solutions.”
“This issue is my number one safety priority and our team of Navair program managers, engineers and maintenance experts in conjunction with type commanders, medical and physiological experts continue to be immersed in this effort, working with a sense of urgency to determine all the root causes of PEs,” Shoemaker stated. – AINonline
Naval officers have testified to congress that the occurrence of physiological events in the T-45 have been increasing since 2012. Similar type incidences had been occurring in the Navy’s F-18 Hornet and they have installed redesigned oxygen systems in 80% of fleet aircraft.
Featured image of T-45 Goshawk training jet by US Navy
