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Order to ground Marines’ Harriers includes some aircraft at Yuma baseApproximately one-third of Yuma-based AV-8B -Harriers are affected by a grounding order issued Friday following two crashes in as many weeks of the combat jet.Meanwhile, a team is being assigned in Washington, D.C., to investigate the crashes and try to determine their cause, said Gunnery Sgt. Rosemarie Fitzsimmons, spokeswoman for Marine Corps Air Station-Yuma.The order affects a total of 70 Marine Corps Harriers which have the Rolls Royce 406 engine. The remainder of the 154 Marine CorpsHarriers, mainly those used for night attack, have Rolls Royce 408s and are not being grounded.Fitzsimmons said some Yuma-based Harriers will be grounded but couldn’t provide an exact number.The grounding order won’t affect the semiannual Weapons and Tactics Instructors course that began today at MCAS-Yuma, Fitzsimmons said. She explained that Harriers are used in the aviators tactical training course “but we’ll just use the ones with the 408.”Marine Corps CommandantCharles C. Krulak ordered the combat jets grounded Friday while a team of Navy and Marine air warfare experts determine whether the planes are safe to fly.Krulak’s order followed a crash Thursday of a Yuma-based Harrier near Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range in Niland, Calif., about 85 miles northwest of Yuma. The pilot, Capt. James C. Clark, ejected safely.Thursday^ crash was the fourth Marine Harrier crash in six months. On Feb. 16, a Harrier crash near Cherry Point, N.C., killed Capt. Ronald C. Walkerwicz.
Newspaper Details
Yuma Sun
Yuma, Arizona, US
Mon, Mar 04, 1996
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Yuma C.
AZ, USA 10 Aug 2023
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