The F-15C that crashed into the ocean Friday afternoon off Hawaii had just passed the thorough structural inspection USAF instituted for each F-15 A-D model aircraft after the fleet-wide grounding, so officials say they do not believe the problem was structural, reports the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. The accident investigation is ongoing, but Brig. Gen. Peter Pawling, commander of the Hawaii Air National Guard’s 154th Wing, said, “The airplane was still in one piece” when the pilot ejected. The pilot, reportedly very experienced in flying fighters, is a member of the 154th Wing’s 199th Fighter Squadron. The unit halted all training flights following the Friday crash, but Pawling expects to resume training later this week, reports the newspaper. The accident investigation could take months.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
