The Royal Air Force has grounded its complete fleet of quick jet coaching plane due to a problem with an engine, Sky News can reveal.
It shouldn’t be recognized when flying coaching on the Hawk T2 jets at an air base in North Wales will resume.
The pause might be one other blow for a coaching programme to ship quick jet fighter pilots that has already been affected by issues and continual delays for years.
Sky News revealed final yr that an “emerging” downside had been recognized with the Rolls-Royce engine on the Hawk jet, utilized by quick jet recruits for coaching at RAF Valley.
A supply on Wednesday claimed the difficulty concerned engine blades carrying out.
“Now one has broken and gone down the engine,” the supply stated, asking to stay nameless.
An RAF spokesperson confirmed that flying on the Hawk 2 jet had been paused “as a precaution”.
“Post a recent issue on the runway involving an RAF Hawk TMk2 engine, as a precautionary measure, flying has been temporarily paused pending the results of the technical investigation,” the spokesperson stated.
It is known that the RAF is working intently with the producer and awaiting evaluation on the precise engine.
Flying coaching will solely resume when it’s deemed secure to take action.
The downside with the coaching fleet is not going to influence the Red Arrows group, which operates Hawk T1 plane.
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In an unique report final August, Sky News, citing leaked paperwork, revealed how points with the Hawk coaching plane and a “damaging drain” of flying instructors quitting for jobs within the business had helped push the RAF’s quick jet pilot coaching into a brand new disaster.
RAF recruits can spend as much as eight years passing by the coaching pipeline. The size of time must be solely two or three years.
Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, gave Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, the pinnacle of the RAF, the duty of fixing flying coaching as his solely precedence greater than three years in the past.
The Hawk T2 is a single-engine plane manufactured by BAE Systems, although the engine is made by Rolls Royce.
Source: information.sky.com”