USAF grounder 123 C-130H og J grunnet sprekkdannelse - Tyler Rogoway

Air Force Grounds More than 100 C-130 Aircraft over Wing Crack Worries

A C-130 deployed from the Montana Air National Guard's 120th Airlift Wing sits on the ramp as the sun sets at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait, on July 29, 2019. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Tech. Sgt. Michael Mason)

8 Aug 2019

Military.com | By Oriana Pawlyk

More than 100 C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft have been temporarily removed from service after cracks were discovered during routine maintenance, Air Mobility Command (AMC) announced Thursday.

Gen. Maryanne Miller, head of AMC, ordered 123 of the 450 C-130 models on Air Force flight lines to be stood down as a safety precaution after "atypical cracks were discovered on the lower center wing joint," also known as the rainbow fitting, according to a news release.

The planes will receive an "immediate time compliance technical order inspection to identify and correct any cracking to ensure airworthiness of these C-130 aircraft," the release states.

The order applies to C-130H and J-model aircraft "that have not received the extended service life center wing box and have greater than 15,000 equivalent flight hours," it adds.