WASHINGTON \u2014 More than a quarter of Air Mobility Command\u2019s C-130 Hercules fleet are being temporarily removed from service after \u201catypical\u201d cracking was found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During scheduled depot maintenance, the U.S. Air Force discovered cracking of the lower center wing joint \u2014 also known as the \u201crainbow fitting\u201d \u2014 which led Air Mobility Command head Gen. Maryanne Miller to order an inspection of a portion of the fleet, according to an AMC statement released Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A total of 123 of 450 C-130H and C-130J aircraft will be temporarily grounded while inspections occur. \u201cThis temporary removal of service will not impact ongoing C-130 support to overseas contingency operations,\u201d AMC said in its statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The decision to pause operations and conduct inspections was made after a single C-130 was found with the lower center wing joint cracks, said AMC spokesman Maj. Jonathan Simmons. But the risk posed by the issue \u2014 that the wing could become dislodged from the aircraft \u2014 was so serious that the Air Force decided to move forward with inspections for all planes that could potentially be impacted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 123 aircraft chosen to go through inspections have not been equipped with an \u201cextended service life center wing box\u201d and have flown more than 15,000 hours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maintainers will look for cracking, and, if discovered, will replace the rainbow fitting. That repair takes \u201capproximately one to two months\u201d to do and is \u201cdependent on depot level availability and capacity,\u201d Simmons noted in an email. Currently, AMC believes it has an adequate supply of rainbow fittings and is not concerned about a potential shortfall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If no defects are found, the aircraft will return to service. So far, eight aircraft have gone through inspections and are now able to fly, Simmons said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each inspection is set to take eight hours, but the command does not know how long it will take to move all 123 aircraft through the inspection and repair process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Air Force takes the safety of its airmen and aircraft very seriously and is working diligently to identify and repair affected aircraft as soon as possible,\u201d AMC said in its statement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This story is developing. Stay tuned for updates.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
More than a quarter of C-130 Hercules in service at Air Mobility Command will be temporarily grounded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":9412,"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":{"2":{"categories":["your-military","news","left-column","home"],"primary_category":"your-military"},"4":{"categories":["your-air-force","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","left-column","home"],"primary_category":"your-air-force"}}},"categories":[7,160,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3384],"class_list":["post-28009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-daily-news-roundup","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"3P5SKNR3LRFU5DSZDICD6HYXOU","arc_canonical_url":"\/air\/2019\/08\/08\/air-force-pauses-flight-ops-for-more-than-a-hundred-c-130s-after-atypical-cracking-found\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n