The Marine Corps has grounded all F-35s at the Marine Corps Air Station Yuma in Arizona, citing issues with the logistics system.
Marine Corps spokesman Maj. Kurt Stahl told Inside Defense that the suspension is “very temporary,” noting air station officials want to ensure the Autonomic Logistics Information System on board the F-35s are functional.
It’s unclear when exactly the suspension will lift, but the flight grounding follows a disturbing pattern of F-35 flight suspension elsewhere.
The Air Force grounded 55 of its F-35s indefinitely at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona last week over concerns about oxygen supplies. While the initial suspension was only supposed to last a few days, it quickly morphed into indefinite status because of five pilots experiencing hypoxia-like symptoms, namely dizziness, disorientation and tingling.
While Air Force officials later announced that the suspension would end Wednesday, they never determined the cause of hypoxia symptoms. Investigators have at least narrowed the issue down to a range of potential causes, however, and in the meantime, officials will increase the amount of backup oxygen available in flight.
To help get to the bottom of the problem, the Air Force has begun experimenting with new sensors to find out exactly what’s going on in the aircraft.
The Navy has also had to grapple with hypoxia, particularly in its F/A-18 strike fighter and T-45 trainer jets. Since fall 2016, there has been a “surge in physiological episodes (PEs).”
Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Bill Moran told reporters last week that hypoxia trending upward, and it’s not clear why.
“We have had physiological episodes in naval aviation as long as we have has high performance jets,” Moran said last week.
“What we are see though is a trend in the wrong direction. More than we expected, and we don’t understand fully why that is.”
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