Pentagon Confirms Boeing’s F-15 Mid-Air Break-Up Caused By Defective Parts

Pentagon’s Inspector General has confirmed that Boeing will pay a $1 million settlement to the USAF for the F-15 fighter’s replacement parts in a 2007 mid-air jet breakup.

Boeing was found to have provided ‘defective’ or ‘non-conforming’ parts, a fact which was corroborated in a joint investigation for the inspector general and USAF. An upper right longeron, part of the jet’s support structure was not adherent to contract specifications, causing the near fatal in-flight break-up, during a routine training mission.

In the accident, the pilot, an MANG member, suffered a dislocated shoulder and an injured arm while ejecting, after the jet’s front section snapped off from the rest of the fuselage. 

 The probe was conducted by the AFOSI and PDCIS and the agreement which was reached almost five years after the accident, was summarized in the inspector general’s semi-annual Congress report last month which stated, “that nonconforming products were a big threat to military and government personnel safety, disrupted flight readiness and wasted economic resources”.

Post the jet break-up, all 441 of the F-15 fighter interceptors were grounded and investigations suggested major structural component defects in 182 of them, as confirmed by service officials in a Jan 2008 press conference. The grounded F-15s were back in service by Feb 2008 after additional inspections. 

Citing a confidentiality agreement, Boeing refused to comment on whether the defective parts have already been delivered.