The consequences of the possible destruction of low-quality pins installed in US Air Force aircraft were described on March 2 by Defense News, one of the largest information resources in the field of defense.
The US Air Force is inspecting the KC-135 tanker and related RC-135 and WC-135 models for faulty tail stabilizer fixing pins.
Metallurgical analysis of two poor-quality pins revealed several discrepancies at once: the parts were made of the wrong material, had an insufficient protective layer, and, moreover, their dimensions were smaller than necessary.
The aircraft has the four aforementioned pins, two on each side of the vertical stabilizer.
If just one of the pins fails mid-flight, the consequences would be catastrophic, according to a US Air Force official.
“If one pin comes undone in flight, the other won’t be able to carry the remaining load and the vertical stabilizer will come loose.” according to an official Air Force document.
According to regulations, the pins are changed at every major maintenance. A leaked memo posted on the unofficial Air Force page amn/nco/snco claims that substandard parts may have been installed during scheduled maintenance between June 2020 and December 2022.
Also read: US Air Force Inspected KC-135 Tankers: Aircraft Tails May Fall Off
Source: Rossa Primavera
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