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News 22.4.2013 19:19 | updated 23.4.2013 10:18
Finnish Hornet jets banned from the skies
The Finnish Air Force has confirmed that the majority of its Hornet fighter jets have been grounded due to a flaw in the ejector seat mechanism.
Defence Force officials have grounded the one-seater jets due to a defect in the pilot's ejector seat.
A defect has been detected in the ejector seat of the F-18 Hornet fighter jet used by the Finnish Defence Forces.
As a result, the Air Force has issued a flight ban on the majority of the fleet’s Hornets.
The American manufacturer reportedly detected a malfunction in the powder cartridge required to power the seat and reported the defect to the FDF.
It says the faulty cartridge is not guaranteed to work in all situations -- and may even completely fail to eject in some circumstances.
The Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Brigadier General Kari Salmi, said that the flight ban affects all one-seater Hornet aircraft.
The ban does not affect two-seaters, since the powder cartridges come from a different manufacturing batch.
The Air Force currently owns nearly 20 two-seater jets.
“They are reserved for our emergency response duties,” Salmi added.
The Brigadier-General pointed out that the flight ban will not affect Air Force operations, since Finland has some 60 Hornet jets.
However the ban will affect training flights and flight drills -- three-day aerial exercises due to take place in northern and eastern Finland this week have had to be cancelled.
Defence Forces engineers will replace the faulty cartridges with new units acquired from the US.
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