USAF to Inspect & Repair Oldest Warthogs

Air Safety Week, Oct 13, 2008

The U.S. Air Force will immediately inspect and repair 127 Fairchild A-10 attack aircraft due to fatigue-related cracks in their wings.

The early A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, the first of which entered service in the mid-1970s, were built with "thin-skinned" wings and comprise just under a third of the USAF's 400 remaining Warthogs. Later models were built with reinforced wings.

"The inspections are a necessary step in addressing the risk associated with A-10 wing cracking, specifically with thin-skin wings. This risk is of great concern to the Air Force and is representative of a systemic problem for our aging Air Force fleet," the Air Force said.

The USAF is addressing the A-10 thin-skin wing issue with a priority focus being the Warthogs currently being operated in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The location, size and orientation of cracks identified will determine the length of time aircraft are down.

Depot personnel who were working on a repair regarding the A-10's thick- skin fleet identified the cracks on the thin-skin aircraft that drove the depot to evaluate crack criticality and identification of the thin-skin aircraft that are affected.

In June 2007, the USAF awarded Boeing a contract worth up to $2 billion for engineering services and the manufacturing of 242 wing sets for the A-10 fleet. The A-10 wing replacement program calls for the replacement wing sets to be delivered in parts and kits for easy installation. The work will allow the nation's A-10 fleet to fly at least 20 more years.

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