By Daniel Witter/Appeal-Democrat

U-2 planes at Beale Air Force Base may be up and flying by the end of next week after the reconnaissance jets were grounded worldwide due to wiring problems, base officials said Tuesday.

Crews checked, inspected and repaired all U-2 aircraft stationed overseas, and they have returned to the skies. Meanwhile, aircraft at Beale are still undergoing inspections and repairs.

The problem was discovered while maintenance workers checked out an unrelated flap problem following a flight last week at the base, said Col. Stephen Sheehy, 9th Maintenance Group commander.

Tech Sgt. Charles Warren discovered an exposed wire rubbed through from contact with a tank that had a pinprick hole seeping fuel, Sheehy said.

“We were lucky for not losing the aircraft,” Sheehy said Tuesday. “This was a good find. This was fantastic. We found it because of great training.”

That situation led Beale and Air Combat Command officials to ground the fleet worldwide to inspect and repair each plane.

“It was (a decision) not taken lightly,” Sheehy said. “We had a lot of input in this decision.”

Three of six planes inspected right after the discovery had exposed wires, and two others potentially had wire problems, Sheehy said.

The solution sounds simple - clamp the wire away from the tank. But implementing the fix was not simple at all, he said.

“This inspection is the most intrusive inspection known in the U-2's history,” Sheehy said. “You can't find a tougher job to do.”

Maintenance crews had to remove the engine and other components of the plane to place the clamps. It takes about 80 hours for the crews to fix each plane, he said.

“We got through it with teamwork,” he said. “We were up and flying (overseas) before most folks thought we would be.”

The U-2 gathers intelligence through different sensors from altitudes more than 5 miles above the Earth's surface. It's been heavily used in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The plane has been stationed at Beale since 1976.

Many of the aircraft airframes date back to 1980, but some are older. The aircraft is checked out with preflight and post-flight inspections. The U-2s also undergo scheduled maintenance programs every 200 flight hours and a major inspection every 600 flight hours, Sheehy said.

The frames are not new, but crews discover problems because of the frequent inspections, said Sheehy. They deal with problems before they become major issues, he said.

Beale airmen faced such an issue after the June 22, 2005, crash and death of U-2 pilot Maj. Duane Dively. A shaft that connected the plane's engine to other parts broke and Dively lost his primary electronic display screens and hydraulics. It was a problem not previously experienced with the U-2, officials said.

Following the crash, crews inspected the entire fleet and replaced parts before officials lifted the flight ban.

Air Force officials have discussed retiring the U-2 in favor of the unmanned Global Hawk, but the plan has been shelved for now.

Sheehy said the aircraft is well maintained. Officials from Beale's headquarters, Air Combat Command, noted that the base's aircraft are safe, reliable and the best they inspected all year, Sheehy said.

Numerous people from different specialties are working on the current problem, trying to get the remaining planes back in the air as fast as possible, he said.
“It was truly a team effort,” he said. “Everyone's helping out.”