The Missouri Air National Guard pilot who narrowly escaped as his F-15C fighter broke apart in midair last fall has filed a lawsuit, according to various news reports, against Boeing, which absorbed McDonnell Douglas, the original maker of the F-15. Maj. Stephen Stilwell ejected, but reportedly sustained serious injuries from the violent actions of his aircraft as it broke in half. The Air Force grounded its F-15 fleet, putting all Eagles through a rigorous inspection process once it identified the likely problem as defective longerons. Air Combat Command boss Gen. John Corley said in January that it would be very difficult to assign blame in this case, mainly because documentation for such old aircraft is long gone and the aircraft parts have been subjected to many more years’ worth of stress than originally intended.
Lt. Gen. Stephen L. Davis, the Department of the Air Force’s top internal watchdog, has been nominated to lead Air Force Global Strike Command, which oversees the service’s bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles.