The US Air Force has lifted a temporary grounding of its T-38 Talon fleet following a training aircraft crash near the Alabama-Mississippi border.
The US Air Force has lifted a temporary grounding of its T-38 Talon fleet following a training aircraft crash near the Alabama-Mississippi border.
The service said that inspected airframes will gradually return to flight operations in the following days after engineering and sustainment teams complete the required safety checks across the fleet.
Units hit by the operational pause include the Air Education and Training Command, Air Combat Command, Air Force Materiel Command, and Air Force Global Strike Command.
“Affected major commands continue to actively mitigate impacts to operations, training and readiness,” the service said.
“During this period, aircrews are maximizing simulator training to maintain proficiency and currency requirements.”
Crash in Mississippi
Recorded mid-May, the mishap involved a T-38 conducting a routine training mission from the Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi.
Pilots of the jets safely ejected and suffered no serious injuries. They were treated and later released from a hospital.
Sources said that one of the aircrew members is a pilot from the Japan Air Self-Defense Force participating in a training program alongside 20 other Japanese aviators.
Investigators have yet to determine the cause of the accident.
Adopted in the 1960s, the T-38 remains a critical platform for preparatory flights in support of future fighter jet and bomber pilots.
The military plans to replace the supersonic platform with the T-7 Red Hawk, which is now in production and is expected to be fielded by 2028.
