Fighter Jets Plagued by Problem With Brakes, Records Indicate

Posted on: Aug. 7th, 2005 || Source: nytimes.com | E-mail Article | Print Article

Fighter Jets Plagued by Problem With Brakes, Records Indicate

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 (AP) - The front-line fighter jet of the Navy and Marines has suffered a series of accidents suspected of being caused by brake failure, and the problem has spurred warnings from commanders, documents obtained by The Associated Press show.

Brake problems affecting the jet, the F/A-18 Hornet, pose "a severe hazard to naval aviation" that could kill pilots and ruin valuable aircraft, a Navy air wing commander wrote last year after one of the jets roared off a runway and into San Diego Bay, destroying the $30 million plane.

Many of the brake failures have been traced to a $535 electrical cable - about as thin as a drinking straw - that controls the jet's antiskid brakes, the equivalent of antilock brakes on a car. Investigators say the cable can chafe or break, since it is close to where tie-down chains secure the jets to a carrier deck.

In the crash in San Diego, Navy investigators cited "a trend of similar, if not identical, emergencies" dating to 1990 that had gone unnoticed until several failures last year, according to records obtained by The A.P. under the Freedom of Information Act.

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