Scandal brews over pilot mugs

Washington – The US Air Force has found itself in a brewing scandal after it emerged that the service has been spending more than $1 000 (R14 000) to replace hitech coffee cups with fragile handles.

The mugs in question aren’t your usual porcelain caffeine containers, rather a special copper-and-chrome plated beaker that can plug into aircraft electrical systems to keep the cherished contents nice and warm.

According to Travis Air Force Base in California, which has “poured” over the numbers, the cups have risen in cost from $693 each in 2016 to $1 220 in 2018, due to a lack of replacement plastic handles.

“Unfortunately, when dropped, the handle breaks easily leading to the expenditure of several thousand dollars to replace the cup as replacement parts are not available,” Technical Sergeant James Hodgman, a spokesperson for Travis’s 60th Air Mobility Wing, wrote in a release.

The costly cups have become grounds for a grumble for at least one influential lawmaker: senior Republican Senator Chuck Grassley.

He wrote to Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson demanding answers about “yet another” report of wasteful Pentagon spending.