WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Seapower, which has jurisdiction over the Navy and naval aviation, was briefed today by Navy officials regarding safety concerns raised about the oxygen systems on T-45 training jets. Wicker requested the briefing following reports that some Navy instructor pilots were boycotting training flights because of potential safety issues with the planes.

“There are a lot of questions that still need to be answered,” Wicker said. “In my experience, pilots want to be in the air, not on the ground. Only extraordinary circumstances, such as feeling unsafe in an aircraft, would keep them from doing their job. I am committed to working with the Navy and our pilots to help resolve this issue.”

T-45 training jets are used at the Naval Air Stations based in Meridian, Miss., Pensacola, Fla., and Kingsville, Texas.