The entire fleet of B-1B Lancers is grounded–again
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. —
The Air Force Global Strike Command commander ordered a safety stand-down of the B-1B Lancer fleet of 57 March 28.
During a routine inspection of the B-1B drogue chute system, potentially fleet-wide issues were identified with the rigging of the drogue chute. It appears to be a procedural issue and is unrelated to the previous problem with egress system components. As a precautionary measure, the commander directed a holistic inspection of the entire egress system. The safety stand-down will afford maintenance and Aircrew Flight Equipment technicians the necessary time to thoroughly inspect each aircraft. As these inspections are completed and any issues are resolved, aircraft will return to flight.
Those inspections pointed to deeper problems with the B-1B inventory, prompting Global Strike to stand down the fleet for a “more invasive” analysis, the Command spokesperson said. That involves disassembling the filter housing and scanning it with X-rays and blue-light tools, according to the command. Once a plane is found to be defect-free, it will be reassembled, pressure-checked and returned to service.
That grounding was 28 March and the B-Lancer is again grounded.
In 2005, the same problem occurred. B-1 Lancers Air Force-wide were grounded after one aircraft’s nose-gear collapsed at a forward-deployed location supporting operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, Air Combat Command officials said Jan. 4. But six days later the B-1 was back in the field.
And again in 2018 and 2019 all B-1 Bombers were grounded because of ejection seat safety concerns.
Carrying the largest conventional payload of both guided and unguided weapons in the Air Force inventory, the multi-mission B-1 is the backbone of America’s long-range bomber force. It can rapidly deliver massive quantities of precision and non-precision weapons against any adversary, anywhere in the world, at any time.
The first of 17 B-1B bombers to be retired this year flew to the “boneyard” at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., on Feb. 17, Air Force Global Strike Command said.
The long awaited B-21 will be replacing the Lancer.