US Coast Guard Maintains Grounded Status of Its C-27Js

The U.S. Coast Guard is keeping its C-27J aircraft grounded as it checks on cracks found in the fuselage of 14 aircraft. The grounding came after the Coast Guard received an alert on Dec. 1 about a possible issue from manufacturer Leonardo. During inspections, the Coast Guard found cracks of varying degrees on all 14 of its C-27Js. Italy’s Leonardo has stated that the problem was first reported by an operator of the aircraft. The Australian Air Force grounded an unspecified number of its 10 C-27Js but is now flying them again. Other operators identified the problem but fixed it without grounding the aircraft, while some found no problems. The U.S. Army, the Italian Air Force, and the Bulgarian Air Force were among the users who did not find cracks. Leonardo issued a measure that allowed the fleets to return to service by prescribing periodic checks and providing repair instructions. Leonardo said that 16 users of the light tactical transport aircraft had flown 250,000 hours. On Dec. 20, the company announced the delivery of two aircraft to the Slovenian ministry of defense, bringing its total orders for the aircraft to 90.