The Nation : Air Force Finds Faulty B-1B Gear Boxes

The Air Force has discovered a problem with lubricant levels in a wing gear box on its B-1B bomber fleet that is slowing the return of the bombers to the air, the Pentagon said. Dan Howard, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said the Strategic Air Command had cleared the B-1B bomber fleet to return to flight status Sunday as individual planes underwent a final safety check. During those safety checks, however, Air Force mechanics began discovering a problem with sealed gear boxes that are part of the assembly to move the wings back and forth, the spokesman continued. Howard said the Air Force now expects roughly 90 of the B-1Bs to be certified for flight operations by the weekend. A March 27 incident in which a B-1B at Dyess Air Force Base, Tex., was damaged when the left wing swung too far forward had prompted a grounding of the fleet.