U.S. Air Force T-38s Return To Flight

The U.S. Air Force’s main jet trainer returned to flying status after an approximately weeklong pause connected to a crash earlier in May.

The service in an announcement said the fleet-wide operational pause was lifted May 28 but did not provide specifics as to what the issue was that prompted the grounding.

“The Air Force continues making progress toward safely returning the fleet to service and anticipates inspected aircraft will begin returning to flying status within the next few days,” the service says. “Collaborative engineering and maintenance teams across the joint force have finalized the inspection procedures to be accomplished to ensure a safe and thorough return to flight.”

A T-38 crashed during a training flight on May 12 at Columbus AFB, Mississippi, with both pilots able to eject. The pause began more than a week after the mishap.

“Affected major commands continue to actively mitigate impacts to operations, training and readiness,” the Air Force says. “During this period, aircrews are maximizing simulator training to maintain proficiency and currency requirements.”

In addition to training, the T-38 also serves in Air Combat Command for adversary training and in the service’s Air Force Global Strike Command and Air Force Materiel Command.

The Air Force is replacing the aging T-38 with the new Boeing T-7A Red Hawk. A Pentagon plan released along with its fiscal 2027 budget request says retirements of the aircraft will begin with one in 2027, followed by 14 in 2028, 31 in 2029, 29 in 2030 and 82 in 2031.

The incident is not the only one facing the U.S. military’s training enterprise this month. On May 26, a U.S. Navy T-45C Goshawk crashed in Mississippi with both pilots able to safely eject. That incident marked at least the 13th “Class A” mishap for the U.S. Navy this fiscal year, already surpassing fiscal 2025’s total. The Navy is also in the early stages of replacing the T-45 as it is holding a competition for the Undergraduate Jet Training System.