The technical air worthiness authorities of the Department of the Air Force and Department of the Navy have issued a directive to ground the F-35 fleet based on initial findings from the runway fire incident that occurred at Eglin Air Force Base on Monday, June 23.
According to a statement issued by the Department of Defense, the root cause of the incident remains under investigation.
Additional inspections of F-35 engines have been ordered, and return to flight will be determined based on inspection results and analysis of engineering data. Defense Department leadership supports this prudent approach. Preparations continue for F-35 participation in international air shows in the United Kingdom, however a final decision will come early this week.
“That technical problems in the F-35 are inherent in the fundamentally complex design of all F-35 variants; that they occur should be no surprise, and it should be no surprise that they will continue,” said Winslow T. Wheeler, director of the Straus Military Reform Project at the Center for Defense Information.