Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Navy F/A-18 Returns 7 Years After Catching Fire

A U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet that caught fire in flight seven years ago is finally being returned to service. The airplane was meticulously repaired by Navy engineers and mechanics who spent more than 10,000 hours replacing parts and certifying the plane to rejoin the fleet.

The aircraft suffered an in-flight emergency in 2009 while flying out of Naval Air Station China Lake in southern California. The pilot landed injury-free at China Lake, but the plane wasn't so lucky. It suffered burn damage to its starboard engine door. There were also burns on the engine exhaust nozzle skin, wiring, and fire emergency equipment, and so they needed to be replaced.

At the time of the fire the aircraft had only flown 2,183 flight hours of its estimated 6,000-hour lifetime, so it was worth returning to service. And so the aircraft was driven by flatbed truck to the North Island Naval Station in San Diego (it sustained additional damage during the trip), where the Navy's Fleet Readiness Center Southwest got to work on it.

Approximately 11,000 man-hours went into bringing the Super Hornet back up to operational status. Structural repairs totaled 2,500 man-hours, which included replacing the Super Hornet's damaged 68 engine door, a complex item to repair, let alone replace. The nozzle skin and airframe stiffeners were also replaced.

The fighter will now presumably return to its unit, Strike Fighter Squadron 122, a training squadron located at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California.


(Kyle Mizokami - Popular Mechanics)

No comments: