The Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps have grounded its fleet of F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft, after an inspection of one plane revealed an inch-long crack in an engine blade. The damaged plane, an F-35A, is based at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and is designed to take off from conventional, land-based runways rather than aircraft carrier flight decks. The Pentagon said the grounding is precautionary. The Air Force has shipped the damaged F135 engine to the Middletown, Conn., facility of Pratt and Whitney, for inspection. Resumption of F-35 flights should resume once the investigation into the cause of the crack is complete, the Pentagon announced in a press release.
