Air Force Halts Flights After Cracks Found

The Air Force temporarily halted flights of its C-27A Spartan transport planes after discovering cracks on a horizontal stabilizer fitting.

The fleet of 10 airplanes will not fly until all are inspected and cleared to resume flying, the Air Force said Friday. It said flights were halted on Wednesday.

Small cracks were found on the horizontal stabilizer fitting of a C-27A during contractor maintenance at Waco, Texas, the Air Force said. The fitting is a part of the tail that holds the horizontal stabilizer to the fuselage.

The planes are based at Howard Air Force Base in Panama.