MERIDIAN- On Monday there were reports that some Navy pilots were boycotting training flights because of a potential safety issue with the T-45 training jets.
Sen. Roger Wicker met with officials in Washington from the Naval Air Station in Meridian, which he has jurisdiction over as the Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee of Seapower. He then made a trip to Meridian to look into the matter.
It was reported that black residue in the oxygen lines of the jets were posing a threat to training safety.
“It was causing pilots to have events on the air. To get back on the ground and suffer for hours with effects after it,” said Wicker. “It’s different than just a lack of oxygen that you could have these high altitudes. That could be a problem and we’ve been working on it for years and years.”
Officials are still looking in to how to resolve the problem.
T-45 training jets are used at the Naval Air Stations based in
Meridian, Miss., Pensacola, Fla., and Kingsville, Texas.
