Re: F135 engine fire incident story, version B.
Here is the story from the WSJ:
LONDON—The engine fire on a Lockheed Martin Corp. LMT +0.79% F-35 Joint Strike Fighter that has grounded the fleet might have been a somewhat isolated incident, the Pentagon's top arms buyer said Sunday.
"We don't see at this point what I call a systemic problem," said Frank Kendall, U.S. undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics.
The grounding occurred after an F-35A jet suffered a fire on June 23 on the ground at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
The operational hiatus has kept F-35s from making a planned trans-Atlantic flight to the U.K. for participation at the Royal International Air Tattoo in England during recent days and means the plane will be a no-show when the Farnborough air show opens outside London on Monday.
Safety investigators have reviewed the fire, saying that excessive friction occurred among blades and other internal parts of an engine built by the Pratt & Whitney arm of United Technologies Corp. UTX +0.83%
When one of the blades failed, Mr. Kendall said, it sparked the fire.
Safety authorities are now discussing whether to allow the plane to return to flight. Mr. Kendall said he was "hopeful" the F-35 could still make an appearance at the air show in the coming days.
Some friction among components is acceptable.
For reasons that aren't fully known, the level of interaction exceeded design margins in the plane that caught fire.
Mr. Kendall said evidence so far suggests it was a unique incident, although it is too early to draw that as a final conclusion.
The grounding comes as the government and Lockheed Martin also are trying to ramp up efforts to reduce costs.
Lockheed Martin said on Thursday that it, along with partners, would spend $170 million to find ways to lower long-term costs.
Mr. Kendall said the initiative "is a positive step."
Note the absence of the words "fan blades", or any descriptive terms leaving one to wonder where the problem actually is…