George Sarris, a senior civilian aircraft mechanic at Offutt AFB, Neb., believes there are continuing maintenance issues that represent safety-of-flight concerns for the RC-135 aircraft flown out of the base, reports the Kansas City Star. Sarris and several other mechanics who work on the specialized reconnaissance aircraft took their concerns to the newspaper when they felt stymied by the Air Force. However, officials at the base told the newspaper that problems with Offutt’s elderly RC-135 aircraft identified by civilian and military mechanics have and are being fixed. And, they point to Offutt’s long-standing record for zero maintenance errors. Sarris maintains that he has suffered reprisals as he began pushing his complaints higher and higher up the command chain, prompting Sen. Charles Grassley to ask for an inspector general investigation.
U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortresses continued a busy bomber task force deployment to Europe by participating in multiple drills with NATO partners last week, including simulated weapons targeting exercises and a live munitions drop in Finland.