Finland’s and Belgium’s six-aircraft F-35 detachment flew from the United States to the Azores, Portugal, on 15 September. On Friday 18 September, only two of the Finnish aircraft continued from the Azores to Finland.
Modern fighter aircraft are highly sophisticated, complex technical systems. As with any such system, technical faults and anomalies occur from time to time.
In peacetime military aviation, a flight can be delayed or cancelled at a low threshold when such an indication occurs. The issue is investigated without compromising the safety of personnel or equipment.
According to the initial information received on 18 September, the ferry flight detachment, which included KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft in addition to the five F-35s, was unable to delay its departure because of a single aircraft.
– According to confirmed information received, during the aircraft start-up sequence, the aircraft’s fault monitoring system indicated a potential issue. The crew attempted to resolve it, but once it became clear that further troubleshooting would delay the departure of the entire ferry flight detachment, the decision was made to shut down the engine and wait until the issue could be properly investigated and repaired. The issue was a minor avionics fault. The required spare part is currently being shipped to the Azores, says Brigadier General Aki Puustinen, the Chief of Staff of the Finnish Air Force.
It would not be practical to ferry the aircraft separately to Finland, as crossing the Atlantic requires aerial refueling support. The aircraft will therefore be flown to Finland with the next group of aircraft during this autumn.
