US Coast Guard keeps its C-27Js grounded美国海岸警卫队继续停飞其C-27J运输机
The U.S. Coast Guard is keeping its C-27J aircraft grounded as it checks on cracks found in the fuselage of its 14 aircraft, the service said.
The U.S. Coast Guard is keeping its C-27J aircraft grounded as it checks on cracks found in the fuselage of 14 aircraft, the service said.
The Coast Guard first grounded its fleet of the medium range surveillance aircraft after receiving an alert on Dec. 1 about a possible issue from manufacturer Leonardo.
“The Coast Guard completed the inspections necessitated by the December 1, 2023, C-27J Alert Service Bulletin released by Leonardo Aircraft Division (LAD),” the Coast Guard told Defense News.
“During these inspections, which required operators to visually observe certain sections of the aircraft, the Coast Guard found cracks of varying degrees on all 14 of its C-27Js,” it added. “The Coast Guard will continue to keep its C-27J fleet grounded while working with Leonardo Aircraft Division to determine a path forward.”
Italy’s Leonardo has said the problem with its C-27Js was first reported by an operator of the aircraft, prompting the company to ask all users to check their fleets and recommending a specific repair if cracks were found.
“The implementation of such repair can be performed at customer premises by the Operators and does not require significant effort,” Leonardo said earlier this month.
The Australian Air Force grounded an unspecified number of its 10 C-27Js which were found to contain cracks. But now, the Air Force is flying them again, a Leonardo spokesman told Defense News.
“Other operators identified the problem but fixed it without grounding the aircraft, while others found no problems,” the spokesman said.
The U.S. Army, the Italian Air Force and the Bulgarian Air Force were among the users who did not find cracks, the spokesman added.
In a statement, Leonardo said: “Following the inspections carried out by the C-27J operators, Leonardo immediately issued a measure that allowed the fleets to return to service by prescribing periodic checks and providing repair instructions to be implemented at the first available maintenance check.”
It added, “At the same time, Leonardo is working alongside the (US) Coast Guard to provide additional instructions and requested technical information to facilitate the return to service of the US Coast Guard fleet as already accomplished by the other operators.”
Leonardo said this month that 16 users of the light tactical transport aircraft had flown 250,000 hours.
On Dec. 20, the company announced the delivery of two aircraft to the Slovenian ministry of defense, adding that it had now received 90 orders for the aircraft.
Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.
美国海岸警卫队表示，由于14架C-27J飞机的机身发现了裂缝，因此该部门已暂停所有C-27J飞机的飞行任务。
海岸警卫队在 12 月 1 日收到制造商莱昂纳多公司发出的关于可能存在问题的警报后，首先停飞了其中程侦察机队。
“海岸警卫队已完成莱昂纳多飞机公司（LAD）于 2023 年 12 月 1 日发布的 C-27J 警戒服务公告所要求的检查，”海岸警卫队告诉《防务新闻》。
“在这些检查中，操作人员需要目视检查飞机的某些部分，海岸警卫队在其全部14架C-27J飞机上都发现了程度不一的裂缝，”声明补充道。“海岸警卫队将继续停飞其C-27J机队，同时与莱昂纳多飞机公司合作，确定下一步的解决方案。”
意大利莱昂纳多公司表示，其 C-27J 飞机的问题最初是由该飞机的运营商报告的，这促使该公司要求所有用户检查他们的机队，并建议如果发现裂缝，则进行特定的维修。
“运营商可以在客户现场进行此类维修，无需投入大量精力，”莱昂纳多本月早些时候表示。
澳大利亚空军此前停飞了10架C-27J运输机中数量不详的几架，原因是这些飞机被发现存在裂缝。但据莱昂纳多公司的一位发言人告诉《防务新闻》，现在空军已经恢复了这些飞机的飞行。
发言人表示：“其他运营商发现了问题，但在没有停飞飞机的情况下进行了修复，而其他运营商则没有发现问题。”
发言人补充说，美国陆军、意大利空军和保加利亚空军等用户均未发现漏洞。
莱昂纳多公司在一份声明中表示：“在C-27J运营商进行检查后，莱昂纳多立即发布了一项措施，允许机队恢复运营，该措施规定了定期检查，并提供了在第一次可用的维护检查中实施的维修说明。”
声明还补充道：“与此同时，莱昂纳多公司正与（美国）海岸警卫队合作，提供额外的指示和所需的技术信息，以促进美国海岸警卫队船队的恢复服役，就像其他运营商已经做到的那样。”
莱昂纳多公司本月表示，16 位用户已累计飞行 25 万小时，用于该轻型战术运输机。
12月20日，该公司宣布向斯洛文尼亚国防部交付两架飞机，并补充说，目前已收到90架该型飞机的订单。
汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。