The US Navy has resumed flight operations for some T-45C Goshawk aircraft.
The US Navy and Marine Corps’ fleet of T-45Cs have been on a safety pause since 14 October following the discovery of an engine blade failure.
Engineering analysis has revealed that a subset of T-45C engine blades don’t meet the manufacturer’s engine specifications; those aircraft remain grounded.
The T-45Cs that have returned to flight contain engines that are compliant with these specifications, according to the navy.
“The process of returning to operations is based off engineering analysis by NAVAIR, with the most important decision being the safety of our aviators,” said CNATRA Rear Adm. Richard Brophy .
Flight operations for the rest of the T-45C fleet will remain paused as the US Navy and its industry partner Rolls Royce continue to evaluate engineering data on the non-conforming parts and work to return additional T-45Cs to operational status.
During this time, training air wings and squadrons are maximizing ground training, including classroom lectures, simulators and computer-based training.
The T-45C is a tandem-seat jet trainer whose mission is to train US Navy and Marine Corps pilots.