Reply #80: Are you sure it was pilot error or contractor-based defects in the machine? [View All]

[Elspeth]

In the 1980s, Northrop (before it merged with Grummond) had a number of planes fall out of the sky in routine maneuvers during training. At least one serviceman died and was accused of having committed suicide. Later, it was discovered by Inspector General's office at the Pentagon that the Northrop planes had a defect which quality control had not caught. At the time, Senator John Glenn was on the relevant subcommittee and was very upset that young men in his old stomping grounds (the Air Force) were dying because of the defect.