F-22 crashed in Alaska, wreckage found

[Jim Wilke]

Searchers this afternoon discovered what is believed to be the wreckage of an Air Force F-22 Raptor fighter jet that went missing Tuesday night on a training mission from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

A rescue team was en route to the crash site to search for the pilot, according to a statement from the base's public affairs office at about 12:30 p.m. today.

The jet was on a nighttime training mission and lost contact with air traffic control at 7:40 p.m. Tuesday, according to a statement by the base. The plane carries one pilot. The F-22 was flying with another plane, which also lost contact with it, according to the Air National Guard.



Read more: http://www.adn.com/2010/11/17/155905...#ixzz15ZycDQYO

Wreckage was spotted near Cantwell, Alaska, very rugged territory about 150 miles north of Anchorage and near Mt. McKinley.

Apparently, only the second one lost. Nothing yet on the pilot.

[indyracefan]

First I've heard of it. Doesn't sound good for the pilot, I hope he's found and alive.

The newer Air Force aircraft have had an exemplary record. I believe there was only one F-117 Stealth Fighter ever lost, one B-2 bomber and apparently now only two F-22's. That's nothing short of outstanding.

[akh]

First I've heard of it. Doesn't sound good for the pilot, I hope he's found and alive.

The newer Air Force aircraft have had an exemplary record. I believe there was only one F-117 Stealth Fighter ever lost, one B-2 bomber and apparently now only two F-22's. That's nothing short of outstanding.

Except (IIRC) the F-117 and B-2 were lost many years after they first went into service. The Raptor has not been in use that long (January 2006), I find it a little troubling that they've lost two so soon. I hope the pilot survived, but it does not sound likely.

[indyracefan]

Except (IIRC) the F-117 and B-2 were lost many years after they first went into service. The Raptor has not been in use that long (January 2006), I find it a little troubling that they've lost two so soon. I hope the pilot survived, but it does not sound likely.

This is true. It is disturbing to see two accidents so soon and again I hope the pilot is found and alive despite it appearing unlikely. In the Raptor's defense, it is in more widespread use than the F-117 or B-2 and fighters have always experienced a higher crash rate. But that's not meant to say it's acceptable.

[Truth Detector]

Not trying to downplay anything but is it really troubling to lose two planes in five years?

[Sea Fury]

Not trying to downplay anything but is it really troubling to lose two planes in five years?

When there are so few of them that two aircraft is a major blow to the fleet, yes.

[Sea Fury]

I believe there was only one F-117 Stealth Fighter ever lost

Six F-117s were lost in accidents and one shot down in combat. That's 7 losses. The first was less than a year after the first flight, when a new F-117 was making its first flight (out of Groom Lake), but unbeknownst to the pilot or anyone on the crew, the fly-by-wire system had not been correctly installed. That pilot ejected safely. There were two more F-117s lost, one each in 1986 and 1987, before the program was made public in 1988; both were training accidents wherein the pilots flew into mountains at night. Unfortunately, those two accidents were both fatal. There was one non-fatal crash in 1992. There was a further fatal training accident in an F-117 in 1995. Then there was the one that came apart at the airshow in 1997, and the one that was shot down over Serbia in 1999. By that time the F-117 had been flying for 18 years, and the newest F-117, the 59th, was 9 years old. There had also been crashes in the preceding Have Blue technology demonstrator program (1978) and several crashes in training that did not involve F-117s but training and chase/hack aircraft assigned to F-117 squadrons (A-7s and T-38s; the A-7 that crashed into a Ramada Inn in Indy in October 1987 was one of these aircraft).

[indyracefan]

Six F-117s were lost in accidents and one shot down in combat. That's 7 losses. The first was less than a year after the first flight, when a new F-117 was making its first flight (out of Groom Lake), but unbeknownst to the pilot or anyone on the crew, the fly-by-wire system had not been correctly installed. That pilot ejected safely. There were two more F-117s lost, one each in 1986 and 1987, before the program was made public in 1988; both were training accidents wherein the pilots flew into mountains at night. Unfortunately, those two accidents were both fatal. There was one non-fatal crash in 1992. There was a further fatal training accident in an F-117 in 1995. Then there was the one that came apart at the airshow in 1997, and the one that was shot down over Serbia in 1999. By that time the F-117 had been flying for 18 years, and the newest F-117, the 59th, was 9 years old. There had also been crashes in the preceding Have Blue technology demonstrator program (1978) and several crashes in training that did not involve F-117s but training and chase/hack aircraft assigned to F-117 squadrons (A-7s and T-38s; the A-7 that crashed into a Ramada Inn in Indy in October 1987 was one of these aircraft).

I stand corrected, thanks for the info. I knew of the one lost in combat but obviously I wasn't aware of the other 6.

[Jim Wilke]

Crews have reached the wreckage of the F-22 and the pilot is not there - I take this to mean he ejected ... but ... there is apparently no beacon from the pilot or the seat so this is not a good sign.

[Jim Wilke]

Latest:

There was no sign of the plane until the next morning, when crewmen aboard an Alaska Air National Guard helicopter spotted wreckage.

"They said it looked like a crater," said Maj. Guy Hayes with the Guard's Rescue Coordination Center. "There was a stream nearby that was creating a lot of water in the crash site." The crater is in a drainage between two mountains and had partially filled with water, Hayes said.

A rescue team that spent several hours looking around near the wreckage turned up no sign of the pilot, Hayes said. There was also no indication whether the pilot had ejected or not, Pennell said.


Read more: http://www.adn.com/2010/11/18/156142...#ixzz15hpWDpZW

[sightlines]

Latest:

There was no sign of the plane until the next morning, when crewmen aboard an Alaska Air National Guard helicopter spotted wreckage.

"They said it looked like a crater," said Maj. Guy Hayes with the Guard's Rescue Coordination Center. "There was a stream nearby that was creating a lot of water in the crash site." The crater is in a drainage between two mountains and had partially filled with water, Hayes said.

A rescue team that spent several hours looking around near the wreckage turned up no sign of the pilot, Hayes said. There was also no indication whether the pilot had ejected or not, Pennell said.


Read more: http://www.adn.com/2010/11/18/156142...#ixzz15hpWDpZW

Wow, hope he got out ok. We lost a CF-18 yesterday too near cold lake, Pilot ok. Puts us down to about 75 servicable airframes.

[Jim Wilke]

The pilot of an F-22 Raptor fighter jet that went down Tuesday during a training flight over Interior Alaska died in the crash, Col. Jack McMullen, commander of the Air Force's 3rd Wing said this evening.


At a brief press conference on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, McMullen said evidence at the scene of the crash about 100 miles north of Anchorage and south of the Denali Highway, including pieces of Capt. Jeff Haney's flight suit and other personal effects, led investigators to that conclusion. Part of the aircraft's ejection seat were also found at the scene.



Read more: http://www.adn.com/2010/11/19/156343...#ixzz15n6xr6l1

[Sea Fury]

Crater, "parts of", etc....sounds like a pretty high-speed impact.