All 89 KC-46A Pegasus tanker aircraft in service with the US Air Force have been sent for inspection. This happened after cracks were found on two new machines that were being prepared for transfer to the Air Force.
In addition, the aircraft manufacturer, Boeing, has suspended deliveries of the KC-46A Pegasus until all the causes of the cracks are clarified and an effective “corrective action plan” is implemented, writes TWZ, which learned about the problem from its own sources and spoke with representatives of the US Air Force and Boeing.
In particular, cracks were found in the main and secondary structures of aircraft, but not on flight surfaces and hinges. And each aircraft, as a result of checking and finding cracks on it, must be repaired. And on the side of News Hub, we note that we are not talking about “metal fatigue”, which is a characteristic companion of long-term operation of aircraft.
Because we are talking about completely new machines, and the first KC-46A Pegasus was put into service only at the beginning of 2019. Moreover, defects were found on two aircraft out of a batch of four machines.
It is also worth recalling that the KC-46A Pegasus turned out to be a problematic car that suffered from problems with the filling boom and its control system, as well as with fuel leaks. Despite all efforts, this air tanker has a very low mission readiness rate below 24%, which is recorded in the 2024 DOT&E Annual Report (Director of Operational Testing and Evaluation of the US Department of Defense).
Moreover, the KC-46A Pegasus is supplied to the US Air Force under the notorious fixed-price contract, which caused a very deep crisis for Boeing. As of 2023, the company’s losses on this aircraft were estimated at $7 billion.
At the same time, in 2024, the supply of the tanker was paused at least twice. In March, for two months, due to the lack of a gimbal nut fixing wire in the filling boom extension system. And on September 13, a seven-week strike of Boeing workers began, assembling KC-46A Pegasus and P-8 Poseidon.
It is worth adding that the KC-46A is made on the basis of the Boeing-767 liner. But it is currently unknown about any plans to inspect this passenger aircraft. Perhaps this is due to the fact that cracks were found in specific elements of the KC-46A contraction, which differ from those used in the Boeing-767. But the production of the civilian version of this aircraft was completed in 2024.