Air Force grounds 29 refueling tankers over safety issue
The order comes amid a flurry of disputes over the Air Force's tanker replacement plan.
The Air Force Tuesday grounded 29 of its oldest KC-135E aerial refueling tankers because of flight safety considerations, according to Air Force officials.
The action was taken after a group of aircraft engineers found problems with engine pylon support struts. Senate aides said eight of the troubled tankers are based at the 161st Refueling Wing in Arizona, home state of Senate Commerce Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., an outspoken critic of the Air Force's plan to recapitalize its tanker fleet.
The "stand down" order comes amid a flurry of disputes over the Air Force's tanker replacement plan. The Air Force seeks to retire 68 of the planes by fiscal 2006 and begin replacing them with 100 Boeing KC-767 tankers, an estimated $23.5 billion deal that McCain and the Senate Armed Services Committee continue to question. Although the Air Force plans to retire 41 KC-135s in fiscal 2005, the Senate version of the fiscal 2005 defense authorization bill includes language drafted by McCain that would prohibit the retirement of any of the planes in the next fiscal year. The House version of the bill calls for the Air Force to negotiate a new contract for the Boeing tankers by March 1.
In June, Air Force Secretary James Roche asked a newly formed Fleet Viability Board to assess problems plaguing 30 of the older E-model tankers. Air Force Air Mobility Command Gen. John Handy was briefed on the board's draft recommendations Monday and directed that 29 aircraft be removed from the daily flying schedule while the findings are reviewed. Further decisions about the 29 aircraft will be made after senior Air Force leaders are briefed, Air Force officials said in a statement Wednesday.
Roche said Tuesday that a new study by the Center for Naval Analyses found that 90 percent of the E-model aircraft are reported to suffer from corrosion problems each year.
"Now, much of it can get fixed, but you're devoting more people, more time and effectively you've only got two-thirds working at any one period of time," Roche told reporters during the Air Force Association's annual conference in Washington. However, the Navy study found that the KC-135's readiness and maintenance problems are not as dire as the Air Force has indicated, and that corrosion is not a major contributor to the decline of the fleet.
In an Aug. 20 letter to Handy, McCain took issue with the general's statement in a recent U.S. News and World Report article in which he said he "could poke a hole into the corroded areas" of the KC-135. McCain said the quotes were characterized as supporting the acquisition of new refueling tankers for the Air Force even as the Pentagon awaits a forthcoming tanker analysis of alternatives and a new mobility capabilities study that could recommend solutions other than the KC-767 in recapitalizing the tanker fleet. An aide to McCain said the senator has yet to receive a response from Handy.