European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 23, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and tripes 1jthoki1cd unofficial pu1lic1hon of t vol.46, no. 219 monday november 23, 1987 Appolo Jessica walks holding her Mother s hand Jessie Mcclinn takes her first Steps out Side � Hospital in Midland tends the 19-Raonlh-old girl was rescued from an abandoned Well oct. 16. See Story Page 28. Trull no 08693 a inside stripes g doomed plane s co Pilot had few hours in dc-9s Page 2 d North pol Dexter top  a age 4 d Oklahoma defeats Nebraska 17-7 sports Page 21 engine woes prompt Hornet Jet groundings by Norman Black a military writer Washington the Navy and Marine corps on Friday grounded Doz ens of heir front line f/a-18 Hornet fighters because of a problem with the general electric co. Jet engines that Power them. The two services said they could no say How Many of the fighters were being grounded because the flight restriction order was directed at engines with a certain amount of Wear. Any Hornet with a be f-404 engine that has accumulated at least boo hours of flight time will be affected by the grounding order the services said. Each f/a-18 is powered by iwo engines. The flight restriction is necessary to reduce the risk of further aircraft loss due to in contained titanium fires in the engines the Navy said. A Navy spokeswoman in London told the stars and stripes that none of the Navy s f/a-18s in the Mediterranean have been grounded the two services said there Are 384f/a-1 is in the operational inventory. The Navy and Marine corps have More than 1,000 operational and spare f-404 engines of which about one third or 320 arc thought to have reached the Soo hour flight limit. Navy and Marine units around the world Nave begun scrutinizing their Hor nets to determine How Many carry engines affected by the grounding order said an official who spoke on the Condi Tion of anonymity. It will probably be several Days before that process is completed but it is Clear that dozens of the planes will be affected the source said. The f/a-1b is the Navy s and the Pentagon s newest Jet fighter. Built by Mcdonnell Douglas corp., the plane can be outfitted for air to air or air to ground combat and is designed to in crease the flexibility of air wings assigned to Navy aircraft carriers. The aircraft Carrier Midway which i about Lojac Over Protection duties for . Cof Voys operating in the persian Gulf is carrying three squadrons of about 30 of a iss. Friday s grounding order was prompted by a series of recent incidents and crashes. There have been nine f/a-18 accidents this year and at least three involved Cigir. Fires. Similar problems have been reported with hornets sold to the Canadian air Force. Canada temporarily halted acceptance of new f/a-18s earlier this month unlit modifications were made 10 the compressor Turbine Blades of the engines. Last week general electric acknowledged that compressor Turbine Blades inthe Canadian fighters had shown signs of see Hornet on Page 28 Reagan urges of of deficit Cut package ton a president Reagan an