On October 14, 2022, the Navy decided to ground all of its T-45C Goshawk jet trainers due to concerns for the safety of its aviators. According to Rear Adm. Richard Brophy, Chief of Naval Air Training, this decision was made as a precautionary measure after an engine blade fault was discovered in one of the training aircraft. The grounding affected all 193 aircraft in service.
The Navy, along with its industry partner Rolls Royce, conducted a two-week safety pause to investigate the issue. This came after a training aircraft experienced a low-pressure compressor blade failure prior to takeoff.
In late October 2022, the Navy resumed flight operations for some of its T-45C Goshawk jets. However, the Naval Air Systems Command stated that their investigation revealed a subset of T-45C engine blades did not meet the manufacturer’s specifications, resulting in those specific aircraft remaining grounded. The exact number of affected jets was not disclosed by the Navy, but the partial resumption of flight operations indicates that efforts are underway to address the issue, although a resolution for the entire fleet has not been achieved yet.
