The U.S. Navy grounded its fleet of T-45 trainer jets on Wednesday, after instructor pilots refused to fly, complaining that the oxygen systems were not working properly and had caused lightheadedness and blackouts. “We take the concerns of our air crew seriously and have directed a two-day safety pause for the T-45 community to allow time for naval aviation leadership to engage with the pilots, hear their concerns and discuss the risk mitigations, as well as the efforts that are ongoing to correct this issue,” said Cmdr. Jeanette Groeneveld, a Navy spokeswoman, according to The Washington Post.
All 197 of the single-engine jets will be grounded as engineering experts meet with pilots this week at training sites in Kingsville, Texas; Meridian, Mississippi; and Pensacola, Florida, Groeneveld said. The grounding could be extended depending on what investigators find. A Navy officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Post that complaints about problems in the T-45 have been getting worse recently. He characterized the decision of flight instructors to not fly as “not so much a strike,” but instead “instructors invoking their responsibility to not fly when there is significant enough risk to the aircraft and personnel.”
