At least two dozen Air Force jets in at least five aircraft fleets were reportedly found to have potentially problematic tail feathers.
The E-3 Sentry airborne target tracking aircraft, airborne warning and control aircraft, became the last to be inspected for substandard tail feathers, according to the Military Times. Citing the Air Force’s Air Combat Command, the branch did not say how many replacement parts would be needed.
“The E-3 System Program Office, in conjunction with ACC, issued an Immediate Action Time Compliance Technical Order (TCTO) on March 1, directing the inspection of all E-3 aircraft for non-compliant vertical stabilization pins. The TCTO required inspections completed prior to the next flight,” Air Force spokesman Capt. Laura Hayden in an email to Fox News Digital Friday.
She explained that all E-3 aircraft have been field inspected in accordance with the TCTO and that the Air Force continues to conduct operational and training missions.
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A United States Air Force E-3 AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) lands at Nellis Air Force Base while participating in the 2006 Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment on April 25, 2006 in Las Vegas. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
“The only aircraft that have yet to be inspected are under depot maintenance and will be inspected before leaving the depot facility,” Hayden added. “There have been no accidents due to non-compliant pins.”
The fleet is spread over Tinker Air Force Base, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and Japan’s Kadena Air Base.
This U.S. Air Force handout photo shows an E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) in flight. (Joe Cupid/US Air Force/Getty Images)
The Air Force says NATO has 17 E-3As and support equipment.
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In this U.S. Air Force handout photo, an E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) lands in Cold Lake, Canada on November 11, 1997. (Diane S. Robinson/U.S. Air Force/Getty Images)
The publication listed the aircraft “vertical connection pins” are the problem; they help attach the tail fin to the rest of the fuselage, giving pilots control of an aircraft while turning.
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On Valentine’s Day, the Air Force Times previously reported that 24 of the 90 KC-135 Stratotankers it inspected had non-compliant pins.
