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Loose Bolts Ground V-22 Ospreys; Four Aircraft in Iraq Will NeedFixes



 
 
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Old March 25th 09, 02:21 PM posted to rec.aviation.military,rec.aviation.military.naval,sci.military.naval
mike
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Default Loose Bolts Ground V-22 Ospreys; Four Aircraft in Iraq Will NeedFixes

Inside the Navy

Loose Bolts Ground V-22 Ospreys; Four Aircraft in Iraq Will Need Fixes

March 24, 2009 --

Naval Air Systems Command this week ordered the temporary grounding of
84 Navy and Air Force V-22 Osprey tiltrotors after an inspection of
one of 12 V-22s in Iraq revealed that loose bolts were causing damage
to components in the aircraft's rotor assembly, according to a NAVAIR
spokesman.
The March 22 grounding was a “precautionary measure” after all four
bolts in the rotor assembly were found loose in one of the V-22s in
Iraq on March 21, said the spokesman, Mike Welding. Since then, 52
aircraft have cleared their inspections, although four aircraft in
Iraq required repairs, he said.
“Loose bolts were discovered while the aircraft was on the ground and
did not cause an in-flight incident,” Welding told Inside the Navy.
“The grounding bulletin spells out new inspection procedures on
certain components in the prop rotor assembly. All aircraft that
passed the inspection will immediately return to normal flight status.
Any aircraft found with loose bolts will receive replacement parts and
be returned to flight.”
The grounding affected 84 aircraft -- 73 Marine Corps MV-22s and 11
Air Force CV-22s. At press time, 43 MV-22s and nine CV-22s had been
cleared, although Air Force Special Operations Command spokeswoman
Capt. Laura Ropelis said the Air Force expected that all 11 CV-22s
would be cleared by the end of today without any problems.
All four of the aircraft that did not pass inspection were among the
12 currently serving in Iraq. Welding declined to speculate on a
cause, saying the investigation is ongoing.
Two of those aircraft have been repaired and cleared, including the
initial aircraft. Welding was unsure of the status of the other two.
Eleven of the 12 aircraft had been inspected at press time.
The inspection takes about two hours, and the fix takes about two
days, Welding said.
The problem came to light when pilots assigned to the squadron noted
“some unusual noises and vibrations when shutting down their aircraft
following a routine flight,” Welding said.
“Subsequently, the problem was discovered by squadron mechanics when
they detected the cause of the noise and vibration,” he added.
“Squadron mechanics had discovered four bolts had separated from the
stationary swash plate trunnion,” causing some damage to nearby
components.
Although the other aircraft had some loose bolts, the problem was not
as severe, Welding said.
The grounding was done mainly for safety reasons as damage was very
minor, according to Welding. Although he said it would be difficult to
speculate exactly what would have happened if the problem had worsened
significantly, control of the rotor could have been compromised.
With the new precautions in place, there is no risk of that now,
Welding said.
“We believe that is not going to happen, especially with the new
enhanced procedures we will have in place,” he said. “[The procedures]
will certainly provide us with enough early detection.”
 




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