“An investigation determined a manufacturing defect caused an engine fuel tube to rupture during flight, resulting in a loss of power to the engine,” the Government Accountability Office said in a report issued this week.In September, a U.S. military F-35B crashed near the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in South Carolina. The pilot ejected safely.
The F-35B is the short takeoff and landing version of the jet flown by the U.S. Marines and a handful of allies.
F-35 jets are made by Lockheed Martin Corp and have engines made by United Technologies Corp’s Pratt & Whitney division.
A Pratt & Whitney representative declined to comment. A military investigation into the September crash is ongoing.
After the September crash the Pentagon’s office that runs the F-35 program said that some fuel tubes from Pratt & Whitney would be replaced during regular maintenance.
In April, a Japanese F-35A, the most common format for the fighter jet, crashed after being aloft for only 28 minutes. The plane had logged a total of 280 hours in the air.
That was the second F-35 to crash since the aircraft’s first flight in 2006.
Source: Washington (Reuters) – Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis | 11 May 2019
Photo: Smoke rises at the site of a U.S. Marine Corps Air F-35B fighter jet crash in Beaufort, South Carolina, U.S., September 28, 2018 in this still image obtained from social media. (Photo by Kensley Mıncey Crosby/via Reuters)
Adams Barret (USA XairForces Editor)
aerospace.2023@gmail.com
Facebook.com/aerospace.2023
Twitter.com/AerospacNetwork
4/5 Generation Fighters 
