U.S. Air Force Has Grounded A Quarter of Its C-130 Fleet Due To ‘Atypical’ Cracking

An Air Force C-130J Super Hercules flies over Yokota Air Base, Japan, during a training mission. (Yasuo Osakabe/U.S. Air Force)

Defense News: US Air Force pauses flight ops for more than a hundred C-130s over ‘atypical’ cracking

WASHINGTON — More than a quarter of Air Mobility Command’s C-130 Hercules fleet are being temporarily removed from service after “atypical” cracking was found.

During scheduled depot maintenance, the U.S. Air Force discovered cracking of the lower center wing joint — also known as the “rainbow fitting” — which led Air Mobility Command head Gen. Maryanne Miller to order an inspection of a portion of the fleet, according to an AMC statement released Wednesday evening.

A total of 123 of 450 C-130H and C-130J aircraft will be temporarily grounded while inspections occur. “This temporary removal of service will not impact ongoing C-130 support to overseas contingency operations,” AMC said in its statement.

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WNU Editor: This grounding impacts 123 of the 450 C-130H and C-130J aircraft fleet.