The incident occurred Monday at the 82nd Training Wing at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas, but the pilot was attached to the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program that instructs new military pilots from Canada and various European countries.

The pilot was taken to a hospital but died about 12 hours after the incident, which the Air Force is currently investigating.

There have been issues with the ejection seats in Texan IIs, which have been in service for 17 years and are based on the Pilatus PC-9 built under license by Beechcraft. The airplanes were grounded in 2022 after a potential defect was discovered in the Martin-Baker seats’ explosive cartridge, and some were replaced.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.

The post Air Force Instructor Dies After Texan II’s Ejection Seat Activates on Ground appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Out of more than 700 cartridges inspected in F-35s, only four were found to be suspect, the Air Force said.

The Air Force, along with the Navy and Marine Corps, announced late last month it had grounded the fighters—along with hundreds of T-38 Talons and T-6 Texan IIs—out of an ”abundance of caution” because of the potential defect in cartridge actuated devices (CAD) used to initiate ejection seats. 

The devices are used in ejection seats manufactured by Martin-Baker Aircraft Co. Ltd., which notified Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division (NSWC IHD) of the potential defect. NSWC IHD provides the devices for Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps aircraft.

• READ MORE: Military Training Aircraft Grounded Over Ejection Seat Concerns

“The Air Force has completed the Time Compliance Technical Directive on all F-35 ejection seat initiator cartridges, with a few exceptions, and all aircraft have resumed normal operations,” Air Force Air Combat Command spokesperson Alexi Worley told FLYING.

“Across the Air Force, technicians inspected a total of 706 cartridges, which came from a majority of the Air Force’s 349 F-35s as well as additional supply,” Worley said. As a result, four cartridges were considered suspect, and were replaced.

“Those four suspect cartridges have since undergone further inspection and were determined compliant,” she added.

• READ MORE: USAF Official: U.S. Needs New F-35 Engine To Prevent ‘Stagnating’

Concern over the possible defect also prompted the Air Force’s Air Education and Training Command (AETC) to ground 203 T-38 supersonic jet trainers and 76 single-engine T-6 Texan II  primary trainers used for Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) until safety inspections can be performed. 

Those inspections are still ongoing, an AETC spokesperson said Tuesday.

The post F-35As Resume Operations After Stand Down for Ejection Seat Inspections appeared first on FLYING Magazine.