米空軍、F35の飛行を一部停止 パイロット酸欠で
2017.06.10 Sat posted at 13:09 JST
(CNN) 米空軍は9日、アリゾナ州ルーク空軍基地に所属する最新鋭戦闘機F35でパイロットが酸素不足に陥る事例が5件発生したことを受け、同基地のF35全機の飛行を一時的に停止したと明らかにした。10日には飛行を再開する見込みだとしている。
空軍報道官は声明で、パイロット5人が低酸素症のような症状を示したと公表。パイロットは全員、予備の酸素を使って機体を安全に着陸させたという。
また、飛行停止は「懸念や危険からではなく、万全を期して」取った措置だと強調。空軍は10日に任務を再開する計画だとしている。
第56戦闘航空団の司令官も、現地の空軍仕様機F35Aの飛行を取りやめたと発表。「空軍はこうした生理的な事例を深刻に受け止めている。我々が重視するのはパイロットの安全や健康だ」と述べたうえで、原因究明に向け必要な措置を取っていると明かした。
ルーク空軍基地には55機のF35Aが配備されている。同報道官によれば、今回の原因はまだ解明されていないものの、他の基地では同様の事例は報告されていないため、飛行停止の措置はルーク基地に限定されているという。
F35は開発が大幅に遅れたほか予算超過も発生するなど、相次ぐ後退に見舞われてきた。空軍は昨年、絶縁体の問題で10機のF35に地上待機を命令。また、射出座席の問題を受けパイロットに体重制限を課す措置も取られていたが、空軍は先月、この問題を解決したと発表した。
https://www.cnn.co.jp/usa/35102546.html
F-35 fighters grounded over oxygen problems
By Ryan Browne and Jeremy Herb, CNN
Updated 8:31 PM ET, Fri June 9, 2017
(CNN)An F-35 fighter wing has been temporarily grounded after five incidents where pilots suffered from oxygen deprivation problems, but the planes are expected to be flying again on Saturday, the Air Force said Friday.
The 56th Fighter Wing at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona suspended all F-35A flights Friday after the five pilots experienced hypoxia-like symptoms, Air Force spokesman Capt. Mark Graff said in a statement. The pilots all used their backup oxygen to land the planes safely.
"In order to synchronize operations and maintenance efforts toward safe flying operations we have canceled local F-35A flying," said Brig. Gen. Brook Leonard, commander of the 56th Fighter Wing. "The Air Force takes these physiological incidents seriously, and our focus is on the safety and well-being of our pilots. We are taking the necessary steps to find the root cause of these incidents."
Graff said that the pause was taken "not out of fear or out of danger, but out of an abundance of caution," and said the Air Force plans to resume operations on Saturday.
There are 55 F-35As at Luke Air Force Base. Graff said that it's still not clear what caused the oxygen incidents, but said that the pause was confided to Luke because "no other incidents have been reported" at any other Air Force bases since May 2.
But the Luke F-35 grounding is nevertheless the latest setback for the F-35, a long delayed and over-budget weapons program that's become the Pentagon's most expensive in history. The Air Force grounded 10 of its F-35 fighters last year due to insulation problems, and last month the Air Force announced it had resolved an ejection seat issue that had led to a weight restriction being imposed on pilots.
The Lockheed Martin-made F-35A fighter jets were declared combat ready by the Air Force last year, and F-35s have now deployed to Japan and Europe.
The F-35A is the Air Force variant of the Joint Strike Fighter: The F-35B Marine Corps variant was declared combat ready in 2015, and the F-35C Nary variant is supposed to be combat operational next year.
President Donald Trump has taken a personal interest in the F-35 program, slamming the costs as "out of control" and then getting involved in the Pentagon's contract negotiations with Lockheed Martin. He took credit for generating $700 million in savings in the $8.5 billion contract for the latest batch of F-35 fighters.
For military jets, oxygen deprivation has been a nagging problem.
The Navy's F/A-18 fighter jet pilots experienced a rising rate of "physiological episodes," Navy officials told Congress in March.
Navy investigators had identified 382 cases, including 130 that involved some form of oxygen contamination, and 114 with a failure of the jet's system that maintains cabin pressure.
The Air Force's F-22 fighter pilots also struggled with hypoxia-like symptoms back in 2012, which led to limitations on F-22 flights until the issue was resolved. The Air Force said Friday that the F-35 program office has created a team of "engineers, maintainers and aeromedical specialists to examine the incidents to better understand the issue."
http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/09/politics/f-35-grounded-oxygen-problems/index.html
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