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Friday, Mar. 06, 2009

C-130s grounded: Aircraft to be inspected after Robins workers find cracks

Air Force officials issued an immediate inspection notice Thursday to C-130 units worldwide after Robins Air Force Base technicians found upper wing joint nut cracks in an aircraft undergoing scheduled depot maintenance.

The directive, known in the Air Force as a “time compliance technical order,” requires inspection and replacement of any cracked nuts before the next flight, said Roger Drinnon, a spokesman for Air Mobility Command. The command, headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., is the principal operator of the C-130 for the Air Force.

Drinnon said the inspection notice was issued by the C-130 system program office at Robins in coordination with Air Mobility Command. Robins has worldwide engineering oversight, depot overhaul and sustainment responsibility for the Air Force’s C-130 fleet of more than 600 aircraft.

“I don’t know how critical the nuts are to the structural integrity of the aircraft, but the inspection must be completed within a certain time frame,” he said. “It will require a short, field-level inspection and replacement of any cracked nuts.” He said the nuts were readily available to affected units.

For more than 50 years, the C-130 has been the tactical airlift backbone for the U.S. Air Force and for many air forces around the world. According to Air Force data, the C-130 first became operational in December 1956. More than 2,000 aircraft in 70 variants and five basic models have been produced.

The newest C-130s in the fleet, the C-130J, are apparently not affected by the new inspection order. Drinnon also said some exceptions were made for units flying critical missions in the war on terror.

“But I would have to reach out to determine what those exceptions are,” he said by phone Thursday afternoon.

Robins officials declined to comment on the move. “The direction we got was no internal or external releases,” said John Birdsong, a Robins spokesman.

Air Force Pentagon spokeswoman Vicki Stein confirmed that a time compliance technical order had been issued.

“But we don’t know the extent of it yet,” Stein said by phone.

Officials at Marietta-based Lockheed Martin, the C-130 manufacturer, could not be reached for comment.

To contact Gene Rector, call 923-3109, extension 239.