An in-flight fire that erupted on a Marine F-35B last year was caused by a flawed bracket that the Pentagon\u2019s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program office should have known was a serious hazard, according to a Marine Corps investigation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The weapons bay bracket that caused the fire was a \u201cknown and previously identified hazard in the F-35B community,\u201d the commander of Marine Aircraft Group 31 wrote in an endorsement of the investigation.
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\u201cThe Joint Strike Fighter Program Office (JSFPO) should have assessed the risk of the broken bracket as more severe than Marginal, properly assessed the root cause of the broken brackets, and implemented a long-term solution to prevent bracket failures,\u201d according to a redacted copy of the investigation, which Marine Corps Times obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
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On Oct. 27, 2016, a fire broke out while the F-35B was in the air. The plane\u2019s warning system identified the malfunction, allowing the pilot to land safely at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina, a 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing spokesman said.
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The broken bracket had chafed against electrical wiring, which is near hydraulic lines, the investigation found. An electrical short ignited fluid from a pinhole-sized leak in the hydraulic line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Joint Strike Fighter Program Office should re-evaluate the risk severity of the faulty bracket design in order to prevent re-occurrence of an in-flight fire or the potential loss of an aircraft,\u201d wrote the commander, whose name was redacted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The investigation is the latest criticism for the F-35 program, which is the most expensive weapons program in U.S. military history. A spokesperson for the F-35 program was unable to provide a comment for this story on Friday afternoon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Marine Corps\u2019 investigation also criticized the aircraft\u2019s pilot warning system, which can \u201cbe confusing and task saturating for pilots\u201d during complex emergencies because there is no way of knowing which warning is the most serious, the investigation found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this case, so many warning lights flashed in such a short period of time that it would be difficult for an experienced F-35 pilot to prioritize them, the investigation found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pilot did handle the situation in \u201ca safe, efficient and professional manner,\u201d and should not be held responsible for any damage to the aircraft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The broken bracket was a ‘known and previously identified hazard’ for F-35Bs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":57285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":7,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[7,160,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1267],"class_list":["post-25973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-daily-news-roundup","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"CWJGGBZGCRAQTP5EKTQ3S2RYRQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2017\/12\/09\/marine-corps-investigation-faults-f-35-program-after-in-flight-fire\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n