Hilton Head Island Packet Logo

Navy inspects 636 Hornets after cracks found in hinges | Hilton Head Island Packet

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • Customer Service
    • Mobile & Apps
    • Archives
    • Contact Us
    • eEdition
    • Newsletters
    • Subscribe
    • Contests
    • About Us
    • Sponsorships
    • News
    • Beaufort Gazette
    • Bluffton Packet
    • Special Reports
    • Databases
    • Local
    • South Carolina
    • Traffic
    • Crime & Public Safety
    • Business
    • Politics & Elections
    • Military
    • Nation & World
    • Professional Opinion
    • Lottery Results
    • Blog: Untamed Lowcountry
    • Sports
    • College
    • Golf
    • RBC Heritage
    • Recreation
    • High School
    • MLB
    • NFL
    • NBA
    • Outdoors
    • Columnists
    • Jeff Shain
    • Cast & Blast
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • Business
    • Real Estate
    • Technology
    • Full Stock Listings
    • Market Summaries
    • Mutual Funds
    • Treasury Rates
    • New Employee/Promotion Form
    • New Business Owner Form
    • Living
    • Celebrations
    • Religion
    • Food & Drink
    • Family
    • Outdoors
    • Holidays
    • Columnists
    • Lowcountry Gardening
    • Made With Love
    • Faith in Action
    • Entertainment
    • Arts & Culture
    • Local Events
    • Holidays & Seasonal
    • Horoscopes
    • Comics
    • Puzzles & Games
    • Columnists
    • Mindy Lucas
    • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Other Views
    • Readers Opinion
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Submit a Letter
    • National Voices
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Columnists
    • David Lauderdale
    • Liz Farrell
  • Obituaries

    • Classifieds
    • Legal Notices
  • Special Sections
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Cars
  • Homes
  • Place An Ad
  • Mobile & Apps

Local

Navy inspects 636 Hornets after cracks found in hinges

By PATRICK DONOHUE

pdonohue@beaufortgazette.com

843-986-5531

    ORDER REPRINT →

November 23, 2008 12:00 AM

BEAUFORT -- Hairline fatigue cracks found on hinges of wing panels on fighter jets at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in September forced the Navy to inspect more than 450 F-18 Hornets this month.

During a post-flight inspection in September, cracks in the aluminum outer wing panel hinges were found on a two-seat F/A-18/D flown by one of the air station's all-weather fighter squadrons.

The squadron examined the rest of its jets and found similar cracks at the hinge assembly, said Capt. James Jarvis, air station spokesman.

The air station then notified the Naval Air Depot and Fleet Support Team that there might be a systemic problem with the hinge assembly, Jarvis said.

SIGN UP

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to The Island Packet

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

The hinge is a critical safety part that, if damaged, could "result in ... possible further damage to the aircraft or possible loss of the aircraft," according to a statement from the Navy.

Jarvis said the safety of the aircraft, the Marines flying them and the community below are the air station's highest priorities.

"I can assure you that all of our aircraft are meticulously maintained to ensure that they are 100 percent ready to fly before we clear them to do so," he said.

The Navy issued a bulletin Oct. 23 ordering the inspection of all 636 F-18s in the Naval and Marine Corps inventory.

Inspections of the Navy's 480 jets in active use are nearly complete, said Lt. Clay Doss, Navy spokesman at the Pentagon.

"We were very encouraged by the results and project minimal operational impact," he said, adding that the 112 F-18s currently deployed with Carrier Air Wings and Marine Air Wings have been inspected.

Those inspections resulted in the grounding of 10 F-18s and the placement of flight restrictions on 20 other jets, Doss said.

Half of the Hornets found to have stress cracks are deployed overseas, he said.

"Of the deployed aircraft, two were grounded and eight were flight restricted," he said. "Since then, the two grounded deployed aircraft have been repaired. We will prioritize repairs of deployed aircraft to ensure safe operations and mission requirements are met."

F-18s belonging to Marine Aircraft Group 31 at the air station in Beaufort all have undergone inspections and the handful of planes that required attention were repaired, Jarvis said. Jets belonging to the air station's lone Naval squadron, Navy Strike Fighter Squadron 86, passed inspection.

Each jet is worth about $57 million, according to the Navy. The planes originally were made by McDonnell Douglas, which now is part of Boeing.

Doss said the cause of the problem remains unknown.

"We continue to analyze the data gathered to determine the root cause," he said. "With procedures in place and maintenance techniques under development, we do not expect additional degradation to the Navy's strike-fighter capability resulting from the identified hinge cracks."

Despite flying an aging fleet of fighters -- variants of which became operational as early as 1983 -- preventative maintenance has kept "Class A" mishaps with the F-18 at their lowest rate in nearly a decade, according to the Naval Safety Center.

A Class A mishap is one that causes death, destruction of the aircraft or more than $1 million in damage. Pilots flying F-18s in fiscal year 2008 recorded 1.3 such mishaps per 100,000 flight hours in the Hornet, according to Safety Center data.

  Comments  

Videos

Video shows river otter swimming, playing in Bluffton pond. It even caught its lunch

Solicitor says why deputies won’t be charged in death of Beaufort County man

View More Video

Trending Stories

Services set for Laura Von Harten, former Beaufort County Council member, who died at 54

February 14, 2019 09:34 AM

‘A tragedy, not a crime,’ solicitor says of Beaufort Co. man’s death. Family disagrees

February 14, 2019 04:12 PM

Top-ranked Port Royal restaurant closes 4 years after opening. Building listed for sale

February 15, 2019 12:22 PM

Be my Valentine? Lady’s Island photographer captures alligator giving turtle a ‘kiss’

February 14, 2019 11:33 AM

Bluffton students face drug charges after administrator sees them exchange cash, police say

February 14, 2019 04:01 PM

Read Next

Death Notices

Hazel DeBerry

Hazel Pinckney DeBerry, 69, of Beaufort and native of Lobeco,died Friday at Beaufort Memorial Hospital.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to The Island Packet

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE LOCAL

Death Notices

Gray Tomlinson

February 15, 2019 04:50 PM

Death Notices

Guy Claxton

February 15, 2019 04:47 PM

Death Notices

Joseph Gardner, Jr.

February 15, 2019 04:44 PM

Death Notices

Malik Spencer

February 15, 2019 04:41 PM
More Hilton Head power lines will be invisible by 2020. But will your electric bill go up?

Local

More Hilton Head power lines will be invisible by 2020. But will your electric bill go up?

February 15, 2019 01:07 PM
Beaufort County EMS driver was speeding, didn’t brake before fatal crash, lawsuit says

Crime & Public Safety

Beaufort County EMS driver was speeding, didn’t brake before fatal crash, lawsuit says

February 15, 2019 03:54 PM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Hilton Head Island Packet App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Photo Store
  • Archives
Advertising
  • Information
  • Place a Classified
  • Local Deals
  • Special Sections
  • Place an Obituary
  • Today's Circulars
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story