The US Air Force has temporarily grounded its entire fleet of B-1 heavy bombers over safety concerns, officials said Friday.

The safety stand-down, ordered Thursday, follows an investigation into an emergency landing made at Midland, Texas on May 1.

Four crewmembers had to land their bomber after some sort of "inflight emergency," officials said. No one was harmed.

During the investigation into that incident, "an issue with ejection seat components was discovered that necessitated the stand-down. As these issues are resolved, aircraft will return to flight," the Air Force said in a statement.

The B-1B Lancer is a supersonic bomber that can carry the heaviest conventional payload of all the US military's planes.

It has wings that can adjust according to its speed and cargo. Though it was originally designed as a nuclear bomber it can no longer carry such weapons.

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Taiwan F-16 fighter jet crashes, killing pilot
Taipei (AFP) June 4, 2018
Taiwan's air force said the pilot of an F-16 fighter jet was killed after his plane crashed on Monday in the mountains at the start of annual live-fire drills. The single-seat jet disappeared off the radar over mountainous terrain in the northeastern county of Keelung at 13:43 pm (0543 GMT), 34 minutes after take off, the air force said. The defence ministry, local police and fire department had conducted land and air searches for the 31-year-old pilot, Major Wu Yen-ting, for hours before discov ... read more