Possible F-22 Down

Steyr

http://www.jber.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123231162

F-22 aircraft overdue in reporting

JBER PAO

11/17/2010 - JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON -- An Air Force F-22 assigned to the 3rd Wing at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, lost contact with air traffic control at 7:40 p.m. Alaska time today while on a routine training mission.

A search is underway.

Steyr

Military Finds Wreckage of Air Force Fighter Jet in Alaska

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/11/17/air-force-fighter-jet-missing-alaska/

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The military says the wreckage from a missing F-22 Raptor has been found in Alaska near Denali National Park.

An Air Force pilot was on a routine training mission with the F-22 Raptor when he lost contact with air traffic control at 7:40 p.m. Tuesday Alaska time.

The Alaska Air National Guard Rescue Coordination Center has dispatched a rescue team to the area, approximately 100 miles north of Anchorage, to continue searching for the missing pilot.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of this missing Airman, and we thank all Alaskans for their continued support and prayers during this trying time," said Col. Jack McMullen, 3rd Wing commander. "Finding the missing pilot is our top priority."

The pilot and his $143 million aircraft was assigned to the 3rd Wing at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, just north of Anchorage. The name of the pilot is being withheld until the pilot's status is determined.

The F-22 is the military's newest and most technologically advanced fighter. It's a one-man, stealth supercruiser designed for air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. The Air Force has 137 of them in its fleet, each valued at approximately $143 million.

The F-22 entered service in the mid-2000s and arrived at Elmendorf in August 2007. It can cruise at more than 1 1/2 times the speed of sound without using its afterburner. Its top speed is confidential.

Congress last year stopped production of the plane, built by Lockheed Martin Corp., by eliminating $1.75 billion that would have added seven F-22s to the Air Force's fleet.

An F-22 crashed in March 2009 near Edwards Air Force Base in California, killing the pilot. In July, a C-17 cargo jet from the 3rd Wing at Elmendorf crashed during a training demonstration for an air show, killing all four crewmen aboard.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
_________________________________________________________________

It is not looking good, hopefully he ejected.

Steyr

http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2010/11/ap-missing-f22-search-on-for-pilot-alaska-111810/

Wreckage of Raptor found 100 miles north of Anchorage
By Dan Joling - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Nov 18, 2010 9:36:11 EST


JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — An aerial search was scheduled to continue throughout the night for the pilot of an Air Force F-22 fighter jet that crashed in a remote area of interior Alaska during a training exercise.

Rescue aircraft spotted the wreckage Wednesday about 100 miles north of Anchorage, and pararescuemen from the Alaska Air National Guard scoured the crash site until being flown out for the night.

"There's no sign of the pilot at this point, from what I've been told," guard spokesman Maj. Guy Hayes said.

But he said two Air Guard helicopters and a C-130 airplane planned to continue searching throughout the night for a sign that the pilot had ejected and survived, such as a parachute or a campfire.

The pilot's name has not been released.

The single-seat jet took off Tuesday from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage on a training run.

It was in the air about an hour and 20 minutes and was nearing the end of the training run at 7:40 p.m. when ground radar lost track of it and another pilot on the mission lost communications, said Air Force Col. Jack McMullen, the base 3rd Wing commander.

The pilot had split off from the other jet and was about to do a "rejoin" before both returned to Anchorage as a unit flying about two miles apart, McMullen said.

The other pilot refueled in the air and began searching for the missing aircraft.

The Alaska Air National Guard aircraft joined the search and continued until about 5 a.m. Wednesday. New crews then picked up the search.

A helicopter spotted the wreckage at 10:15 a.m. but did not immediately land because of the threat of hazardous materials.

"It was being considered a haz-mat scene," Hayes said. "They had to get the right gear flown out there to the location so that the pararescuemen and the crash site recovery folks could safely get down there and do a search."

If the pilot ejected, he would be prepared for subzero weather, McMullen said.

"They have survival gear," McMullen said. "He's Arctic trained to survive in that environment. He's got the gear on. He's got stuff in his survival kit, so that he could hunker himself down and fight the extreme cold."

The twin-engine F-22 Raptor entered service in the mid-2000s and arrived at Elmendorf in August 2007. It's far more maneuverable and stealthy than earlier jets and can cruise at more than 1½ times the speed of sound without using its afterburner. Its top speed is confidential.

Congress last year stopped production of the plane, built by Lockheed Martin Corp., by eliminating $1.75 billion that would have added seven F-22s to the Air Force's fleet.

An F-22 crashed in March 2009 near Edwards Air Force Base in California, killing the pilot. In July, a C-17 cargo jet from the 3rd Wing at Elmendorf crashed during a training demonstration for an air show, killing all four crewmen aboard.

Pararescuers will return Thursday, Hayes said.

"They're going to put them back in at first light, or they'll put in somebody — a crash recovery team or somebody."

Steyr

http://www.thirdage.com/news/f-22-crash-alaska-scoured-missing-air-force-pilot_11-18-2010

F-22 Crash: Alaska Scoured for Missing Air Force Pilot
Posted November 18, 2010 7:26 PM

The pilot of the F-22 Raptor that crashed in Alaska Tuesday night is still missing, sources said Thursday.

Military officials discovered the wreckage of the Air Force twin-engine Raptor Wednesday near Denali National Park, about 100 miles north of Anchorage. The jet was from the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and a part of the 3rd Wing.

The pilot, who has been identified as Capt. Jeffrey Haney in the Jackson Citizen Patriot, a Michigan newspaper, lost contact with air traffic control at approximately 7:40 p.m. on Tuesday during a training mission.

Haney has a wife and two daughters, the Anchorage Daily News reported Thursday.

Hundreds of Air Force and Army personnel are joining pararescuemen from the Alaska Air National Guard in the search for the missing pilot.

According to the National Weather Service, temperatures plunged below zero both Tuesday and Wednesday night.

Col. Jack McCullen, commander of the 3rd Wing, said Thursday that Haney would have received Arctic survival training and survival gear, Anchorage Daily News reports.

Tenger

Steyr wrote: »

But he said two Air Guard helicopters and a C-130 airplane planned to continue searching throughout the night for a sign that the pilot had ejected and survived, such as a parachute or a campfire..........
.........If the pilot ejected, he would be prepared for subzero weather, McMullen said.

"They have survival gear," McMullen said. "He's Arctic trained to survive in that environment. He's got the gear on. He's got stuff in his survival kit, so that he could hunker himself down and fight the extreme cold."

Bad piece of news this. Would the USAF not have some sort of distress beacon to transmit in the aircraft. I'm thinking of the pilot but I would have thought the USAF would want one installed purely from the National Security importance of the airframe. Didn't they bomb the F-117 that was shot down in Serbia?

testicle

Tenger wrote: »

Didn't they bomb the F-117 that was shot down in Serbia?

No, the Serbs sold it to Russia.

Steyr

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AJ0BU20101120

Pilot confirmed killed in Alaska fighter jet crash


By Yereth Rosen

ANCHORAGE | Sat Nov 20, 2010 4:23am GMT


(Reuters) - The Air Force confirmed on Friday that the pilot of a fighter jet that crashed in Alaska earlier this week during a nighttime training mission perished in the accident.

Air Force officials initially had held out hope that the pilot of the F-22 Raptor, Captain Jeffrey Haney, might have ejected from the plane and survived Tuesday night's crash.

"Based on evidence recovered from the crash site, and after two days of extensive aerial and ground search efforts, we know that Captain Haney did not eject from the aircraft prior to impact," Colonel Jack McMullen, commander of the Air Force 3rd Wing at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, said in a statement.

Search teams at the wreckage site, about 100 miles north of Anchorage, found part of Haney's ejection seat and several items the pilot wore during the flight, McMullen said.

"Sadly, we can no longer consider this a search and rescue operation but must now focus on recovery operations," he said.


At a news conference, McMullen said the crash left a hole in the earth, and that most of what remains of the aircraft is below ground level. An aerial photo of the crash site showed a fairly round crater in the forest, surrounded by blackened trees.

Radar contact with Haney's aircraft was lost as the jet and another plane were returning to their home base at Elmendorf. The wreckage was spotted the next morning by an Alaska National Guard helicopter crew.

The Raptor, a single-seat, twin-engine fighter built by Lockheed Martin, is equipped with stealth technology.

(Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Peter Bohan)

Steyr

RIP.

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/11/22/350022/us-air-force-confirms-f-22-pilot-died-in-crash.html

Aircraft
DATE:22/11/10
SOURCE:Flight International

US Air Force confirms F-22 pilot died in crash
By Craig Hoyle

The US Air Force has confirmed that the pilot of a Lockheed Martin F-22 which crashed on 16 November died in the accident. Capt Jeffrey Haney had been flying the aircraft when air traffic control lost contact following a night-time training sortie with another Raptor.

"Based on evidence recovered from the crash site, and after two days of extensive aerial and ground search efforts, we know that Capt Haney did not eject from the aircraft prior to impact," Col Jack McMullen, 3rd Wing commander at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson confirmed on 20 November.

Part of the aircraft's ejection seat and several life-support items worn by the pilot were found at the crash site: a crater located in a remote area roughly 87nm (160km) north of Anchorage, Alaska.



"Recovery operations are currently under way and are expected to last several weeks," the USAF says. A safety investigation board will be convened to identify the cause of the accident, it adds.

This was the first crash to have involved an active duty F-22 since the type's entry into frontline squadron service.

The USAF says Capt Haney was commissioned in August 2003 and had been stationed at Elmendorf-Richardson AFB since June 2006.

SNAKEDOC

are the f22's grounded or are they still on flight status. sorry to hear about the pilot,

Steyr

SNAKEDOC wrote: »

are the f22's grounded or are they still on flight status. sorry to hear about the pilot,

Still flying I believe.