Air Forces Northern, headquartered at Tyndall AFB, Fla., has continued to conduct Operation Noble Eagle, despite the Air Force’s grounding of its F-15 A-D fleet. As we’ve reported earlier, units that fly other fighters are substituting for F-15 units normally tasked with ONE sorties. The latest data, covering the month of November, shows ONE crews racked up 50 more sorties in November than in October. (See chart for new stats.)
The crash of a T-38 trainer jet this May—which caused a weekslong pause in flights across the fleet—was caused by an improperly installed pin for one of the jet’s horizontal stabilizers, according to a new accident report released Oct. 30. When the pin disengaged midflight, it created the slightest amount…