Oil line problem brings training plane to the ground
Sig Christenson, Staff Writer
1of9Photo of T-6A Texan II. The plane in the photo is flown by Lt. Col. David “Rev” Baker, who served as the T-6A’s program manager in early 1999. Courtesy Photo, Master Sgt. David Richards, USAF.
(U.S. Air Force photos by MSgt. Dave Richards)Master Sgt. David Richards, USAF/USAFShow MoreShow Less2of9Air Force Pilot Steve Lyon inspects his T-6 trainer after a flight. The 12th Flying Training Wing will stand up the T-6A Texan Squadron at Randolph Air Force Base, Wednesday, Jan 16, 2002.Bob Owen/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWSShow MoreShow Less3of94of9Kathrena Morgan, 4, of Virginia Beach, makes it to the wing of a T-6A Texan II during the last day of the Randolph Air Show, Sunday, Oct. 30, 2011. The show featured the U.S. Navy Blue Angels as its finale. The Texan is part of the 359th Flying Training Squadron at the base. Campbell was dress in his Halloween costume.JERRY LARA/Jerry Lara/glara@express-news.netShow MoreShow Less5of9Jay Campbell, 2, checks out the under belly of a T-6A Texan II during the last day of the Randolph Air Show, Sunday, Oct. 30, 2011. The show featured the U.S. Navy Blue Angels as its finale. The Texan is part of the 359th Flying Training Squadron at the base. Campbell was dress in his Halloween costume.JERRY LARA/Jerry Lara/glara@express-news.netShow MoreShow Less6of97of9METRO – In their Halloween costumes, brothers Jay, 4, center, and Ian Campbell, 4, of Schertz, pose with Lt. John Harvey by a T-6A Texan II during the last day of the Randolph Air Show, Sunday, Oct. 30, 2011. The show featured the U.S. Navy Blue Angels as its finale. The Texan is part of the 359th Flying Training Squadron at the base. Campbell was dress in his Halloween costume. JERRY LARA/glara@express-news.netJERRY LARA/San Antonio Express-NewsShow MoreShow Less8of9The 4 North American T-6A “Texan” trainers of the Aeroshell Team over Lake Winnebago. (Jim Koepnick/EAA)Show MoreShow Less9of9
The Air Force said Tuesday that it’s grounded an airplane used to train novice pilots, saying it has an oil line problem.
The T-6A Texan II, a propeller-driven plane that has been used over the last 14 years in the Air Force’s initial Joint Primary Training Course, which introduces students to flying, was grounded April 10, idling 445 planes – nearly half of them flown at three Texas installations, including Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph.
Just how the oil line was malfunctioning or how the Air Force would train pilots while the plane remains idled wasn’t clear, but Capt. Jason Smith, a spokesman for the Air Education and Training Command at Randolph, described the decision to ground the T-6A as precautionary.
“There were no accidents or injuries in regard to the T-6 stand down,” he said.
The Raytheon Aircraft-built Texan II is a single-engine, two-seat primary trainer used to teach basic flying skills to Air Force and Navy pilots. The aircraft is fully aerobatic and features a pressurized cockpit with an anti-G system, ejection seat and an advanced avionics package with sunlight-readable liquid crystal displays. It is the military trainer version of Raytheon’s Beech/Pilatus PC-9 Mk II.
