Air Force Grounds T-3A, Changes Pilot Training

After three fatal crashes, the Air Force is permanently grounding its T-3A Firefly training planes and turning its introductory flight training over to commercial flight schools.

The Air Education and Training Command at Randolph Air Force Base made the announcement Saturday.

The new training program, using Federal Aviation Administration-certified schools, is expected to save about $16 million a year.

It also increases the training time for incoming pilots from 40 hours to 50 hours and requires that they earn a private pilot’s license.

The Firefly, a British propeller plane capable of aerobatic maneuvers, has had reported problems with engine stalling.

The Air Force Academy suspended the plane’s use in 1997 after three cadets and three instructors died in Firefly crashes over three years.

Two of the crashes were blamed on pilot error, and the other remains unexplained, though Pentagon officials have said the instructor should have been able to recover the plane after it stalled.