The Air Force’s only “nuke-sniffer” aircraft for detecting airborne radiation is back home in Nebraska after mechanical problems sidelined it for two months on the other side of the world. The 60-year-old WC-135 jet, part of the Offutt-based 55th Wing, landed in Lincoln at noon Friday, almost 20 hours after leaving RAAF Base Amberley, an Australian air force base near Brisbane. After seeing smoke come from one of the planes four engines, the crew landed safely and found that hydraulic fluid was leaking into the engine. The plane wouldn't fly again until April 16th when it begin a series of test flights in preparation for its return to Nebraska. The lengthy repair was due to the first replacement part failing and a second had to be flown in. It is also believed that the plane was damaged in other areas as a result of engine malfunction.

The Constant Phoenix jets have been in demand in recent years as unpredictable regimes, such as North Korea, have developed nuclear weapons programs and tested missiles. The need is so critical that a $218 million dollar program was created to convert three former KC-135 tanker aircrafts into "nuke-sniffers." Nebraska officials Sen. Deb Fischer and Reps. Don Bacon and Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska pushed hard to secure the funding. The first batch of the converted planes is scheduled for 2022, for now the lone "nuke-sniffer" will return to its job of detecting nuclear radiation.

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