Air Force allows trainer jet back to the sky after 10-day grounding

The aging jets the Air Force uses to train fighter pilots can return to the skies after a crash last month forced a fleet-wide grounding.

The Air Force had halted flights of its Northrop T-38 Talon fighters on May 19 after the crash in rural Lamar County, Alabama, a week earlier, temporarily slowing the nation's pilot training program amid the ongoing war with Iran.

The service hasn't said what it discovered in the crash that triggered the stand-down, which officials said was ordered "out of an abundance of caution."

On Friday, it said it had lifted the "fleet-wide operational pause" after finalizing inspection procedures for the 1960's-era jets.

Each T-38 will be inspected before returning to flight, and the Air Force said "inspected aircraft will begin returning to flying status within the next few days."

The service has nearly 500 of the jets to train fighter pilots and provide flight hours to keep bomber and reconnaissance pilots current.

Most of the planes belong to Air Education and Training Command at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, which oversees pilot training for the service.

The jets fly at training bases across the country, including two in Texas in addition to Randolph: Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio and Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls.

The Air Force said it's assessing "the operational impact of the T-38 pause on pilot production and undergraduate pilot training timelines, including graduation dates and follow-on training."

Aircrews are "maximizing simulator training to maintain proficiency and currency requirements" during the pause, the service said.

T-38s are set to be replaced by the Boeing/Saab T-7A Red Hawk beginning late next year. The Air Force's first T-7 arrived at the 12th Flying Training Wing at JBSA-Randolph late last year.

In the crash last month, both pilots safely ejected from the jet, which flew out of Columbus AFB in Mississippi.

There have been 10 T-38 crashes in the last 10 years. Five resulted in deaths, including a November 2021 accident at Laughlin AFB.

The jet's last grounding - of nearly half the fleet in July 2022 - was over potential problems with its ejection seats.

The jets also operate out of bases in California, Mississippi, New Mexico, Virginia, Florida, Oklahoma and Mississippi.

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This story was originally published June 1, 2026 at 6:58 PM.