F-14 Takeoffs at Sea Halted
WASHINGTON — The Navy has temporarily stopped flying F-14 Tomcat fighters off its aircraft carriers because of suspicions that a problem with a wheel assembly contributed to a fatal crash of one of the jets in March.
Though the investigation into the crash is not complete, the Navy wants all of its 156 Tomcats inspected because it appears the cause of the crash was corrosion to a part of the nose-wheel assembly used to catapult the aircraft from carriers, officials said Wednesday.
In March, a pilot died after ejecting from his F-14 during a training exercise.
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