Navy inspects Boeing jets after cracks found

[unhappycamper]

Navy inspects Boeing jets after cracks found
By Donna Borak - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Oct 24, 2008 13:56:29 EDT

WASHINGTON — The Navy will inspect hundreds of fighter jets built by Boeing Co. after discovering “fatigue cracks” on more than a dozen aircraft deployed overseas.

The service issued an inspection alert late Thursday for all 636 Hornet aircraft to reduce any safety risk to pilots and the planes. The attack aircraft designed for the Navy and Marine Corps cost roughly $57 million each.

Each Hornet will be inspected to check for cracks in a hinge that connects the aileron to the plane’s wing. Ailerons are flaps that control a plane’s banking movements and help to stabilize the aircraft in flight.

Failure of the hinge could “result in loss of (the) aileron, possible further damage to the aircraft, or possible loss of the aircraft,” according to the Navy.

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There are 112 Hornets deployed on carriers worldwide, including in the western Pacific and the Arabian Sea. The planes affected have flown between 5,000 and 7,500 flight hours.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/10/ap_fightercracks_102408/%2e