Settlement reached over defective blade

[unhappycamper]

An investigation into the 2003 crash of an F-16 identified the engine blade as the culprit and led to frequent, time-consuming and costly inspections across the Air Force as maintainers discovered hundreds more defective blades in Pratt & Whitney F100 engines and replaced them.


Settlement reached over defective blade
By Bruce Rolfsen - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Aug 24, 2008 9:04:31 EDT

Five years after a broken engine blade sent an F-16 Fighting Falcon crashing into the Arizona desert, the firms that designed and built it have agreed to pay the Air Force more than $50 million in cash and services.

The 2003 crash investigation that identified the engine blade as the culprit led to frequent, time-consuming and costly inspections across the Air Force as maintainers discovered hundreds more defective blades in Pratt & Whitney F100 engines and replaced them.

At the time, the Air Force had about 2,050 F100 engines in F-16s and F-15s. The June accident was the only mishap linked to the problem blades, even though they had been used since 1994.

With help from Air Force and Defense Department agencies, the Justice Department’s National Procurement Fraud Task Force pursued a case against Pratt & Whitney and PCC Airfoils, the subcontractor casting the blades.

The settlement, announced by the Justice Department on Aug. 1, eliminated the need to take the dispute to court. The agreement calls for Pratt & Whitney to pay $45.5 million to the federal government and provide another $4.8 million worth of services for inspecting blades. PCC Airfoils will pay $2 million.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/08/airforce_engine_blades_082408/%2e