Correction: Boeing F-15s grounded story |
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Fri, 30 Nov 2007 21:18
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(AP) - In a Nov. 28 story about the Air Force grounding hundreds of F-15 fighter jets, The Associated Press reported erroneously on Boeing Co.'s customer base. The aircraft manufacturer is under contract to build F-15s for non-U.S. military customers, not nonmilitary customers.A corrected version of the story follows.WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Air Force grounded more than 450 Boeing F-15 fighter jets on Wednesday after investigating a crash earlier this month and finding defects in the aircraft's fuselage.It was the second time this month that F-15s were grounded. The entire fleet was grounded following a Nov. 2 Missouri Air National Guard training exercise in which a pilot safely ejected before the aircraft crashed. The Air Force subsequently returned the F-15s to flight status on Nov. 21.The Air Force investigation, which is still under way, found there were 'possible fleet-wide airworthiness problems' because of defects in metal rails that hold the F-15's fuselage together.The Air Force said Wednesday that 452 of its oldest F-15s, or more than 60 percent of the fleet, will remain grounded until each one is inspected, and possibly repaired.The Air Force seeks to replace aging F-15s, some more than 30 years old, with Lockheed Martin Corp.'s F-22 Raptor. The latest version of the F-15 is being used in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Non-combat but critical-mission flights were flown on Lockheed's F-16s while the F-15 fleet was grounded.The F-15 was first manufactured by St. Louis-based McDonnell-Douglas, which was purchased by Chicago-based Boeing some 10 years ago. Boeing delivered its last military F-15 to the Air Force in late 2004, but still manufactures the aircraft for non-U.S. military customers including Singapore and Korea, the company said.Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Boeing F-15 fighter jets grounded again 