Maintainers of the 9th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron achieved the first zero discrepancy status on a U-2 Dragonlady in 13 years of flying operations at Beale AFB, Calif. “This was a 1980 model,” 9th AMXS Superintendent CMSgt. John Pinksaw said in a base release. “A 35-year-old airplane scored zero defects. Try to find that on a 35-year-old car.” The “black letter” status indicates an aircraft is free of even minor, flyable, defects and has no required upgrades or modifications pending. “When they handed me this form, I almost fell down,” Pinksaw said. “We were high-fiving, hugging, and all smiles,” SSgt. Stefan Watkins-Krukowski, dedicated crew chief of U-2 serial number 80-1067. “There was nothing that was going to bring us down that day.” The aircraft attained black-letter status July 13, according to the unit.
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
