ENID, Okla. — Most of the hundreds of training aircraft grounded last week by the U.S. Air Force because of a potential malfunction in the engines’ oil line are expected to be back in the air today, according to a military spokesman.
The T-6A Texan II training aircraft was grounded Friday by the Air Force Air Education and Training Command at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, because of a potential malfunction in the engines’ oil line, the military confirmed Tuesday. A total of 445 aircraft at five bases were being inspected, said Capt. Jason Smith, a spokesman for training command.
Smith, in an email Tuesday night, said the fleet-wide inspection was expected to be completed Tuesday night. Most should resume flying today, he said.
The grounding came “following indications of an engine oil line malfunction,” Smith said, and affected Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma, Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi, and the Laughlin, Randolph and Sheppard bases in Texas.
Smith said there have been no accidents or injuries related to the potential malfunction.
The T-6A was first put into use as the Air Force’s primary trainer in 2000 and is used to train student pilots.
The grounding of planes at the Oklahoma base was first reported Tuesday by the Enid News & Eagle newspaper.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.