“[Integrated power pack] and engine start issues with a tailwind were known prior to the incident. However, the publications were written and communicated in such a way that the F-35A pilot community had only vague awareness of the issue. This vague awareness led to inadequate training for engine starts with a tailwind,” Col. Dale Hetke, the AIB’s president, wrote in his statement of opinion on the investigation.
My memory is failing as I get older, but way back in the 1960s we knew enough to turn the aircraft into wind if there was any significant tailwind on the line.