RE: USAF launcches search for missing F-22 Raptor

[brad kaste]

RE: USAF launcches search for missing F-22 Raptor

...It was on a training mission.....

http://www.flightglobal.com/article...-launches-search-for-missing-f-22-raptor.html

 

[Quicksand]

Not good.... I hope the pilot made it out okay. My prayers go out to him and his loved ones.

 

[jmig]

Yes, not good!

I hope they find him alive.

 

[Allen]

Prayers go out to pilot.

 

[Roadburner440]

I hope the pilot took all he learned from SERE and manages to survives. I imagine the terrain is pretty hostile this time of year. Aircraft is of couse secondary, but I can only imagine the scrutiny he is going to face once he returns. I do not know why these ELT antenna's do not function the way they should (maybe the Raptor doesn't have one).

 

[mfitch]

I imagine the terrain is pretty hostile this time of year.

That region is hostile any time of year. With the population sparse as well, there will not likely being any helpful reports. The MOA's are so large up here (and next to each other) that the search area will be large.

It has not been a good year for aviation in this state.

 

[Roadburner440]

Well. I didn't necessarily mean it was fields of daisies at other times of the year. I just think that terrain would be especially hostile now. With the even shorter days, and even colder weather rolling in. I know they are trained for this stuff (as am I), but that is one of the things you are trained on that you hope you never really have to use.

 

[mfitch]

With respect to temperature and day light you are of course correct. We just had a high pressure system bring us cold weather (otherwise it has been a warm start to winter). I'm not sure what the snow fall is up there, it has been limited thus far this season. Sunset is around 5:00, so the incident did occur after dark. There were strong winds in some places as well I think.

Because of the nice weather (clear skies) I was pondering flying up that way this weekend. However, remembering something can happen to such a well trained pilot, an inexperienced pilot like myself need think twice.

 

[Allen]

mfitch, Keep your eyes open for Comrades comming by submarine to find that 22.

 

[kilo delta]

Wreckage found

Military Finds Wreckage of Air Force Fighter Jet in 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.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/11/17...issing-alaska/


Hope the pilot managed to punch out. It's not looking good.

 

[jmig]

The fact (at least from what I have read) there was no beeper and they didn't know the aircraft was missing right away makes me think he plowed in. I may be be completely wrong but, I would think if it had been a normal emergency, the pilot would have contacted someone.

 

[Allen]

I hate to sound "cold harted" but how much now cost to pick up every part of this plane. Every thing about it is classified and there not just going to leave it out there. They can't just fill in the hole it made and call it good in BFE up there. "The Comrades" will be comming to dig it up along with evey other shady guy around the world.

 

[kilo delta]

The fact (at least from what I have read) there was no beeper and they didn't know the aircraft was missing right away makes me think he plowed in. I may be be completely wrong but, I would think if it had been a normal emergency, the pilot would have contacted someone.

I agree,John...it's looking like it may be a CFIT scenario.

 

[Emil Frand]

I hate to sound "cold harted" but how much now cost to pick up every part of this plane. Every thing about it is classified and there not just going to leave it out there. They can't just fill in the hole it made and call it good in BFE up there. "The Comrades" will be comming to dig it up along with evey other shady guy around the world.

doubt thered be enough left to be useful to anyone

 

[Allen]

doubt thered be enough left to be useful to anyone

However the russian arn't just anyone. They have bad habit of making nothing in to somthing vary bad to the U.S.

You give them an inch and they will make the rest of the whole 9 yard!

 

[mfitch]

Every thing about it is classified and there not just going to leave it out there.

They certainly have not given the location of the crash despite now knowing. There isn't even a TFR out.

The pilot was not on board when it crashed according to the current reports coming out of JBER.

 

[Roadburner440]

If it was a CFIT there is likely much more left other than bits of the ribs. stringers, and power plants. Depending on the speed of the aircraft all the composite parts could have disintigrated on impact. I was really hoping this was not the scenario. Was hoping that it was some kind of unrecoverable malfunction (not like hoping in a good way, but hoping for his sake), and he was unable to punch out/survive. I do agree with the comment that the military will be trying to recover everything they can about the aircraft. It is not necessarily it's design, but the material it is made out of which could be reverse engineered from samples. I do not think there is anything deviant about this scenario. Stuff happens in aviation. Especially with brand new cutting edge aircraft. I just hope the pilot is still alive somewhere.

 

[CG_1976]

440sq here sent over 2 CC-138's to assist the USAF. we had to arm them with the Tundra/Ski combination. Last I heard was the crash scene is a Haz-Mat scene.

 

[Roadburner440]

Yeah. It would most definately be a hazmat scene as all the oils, fuel, and such are probably scattered over a fair amount of area. I hate when fuel spills happen at my squadron. Can only imagine at a scene like that what doing cleanup must be like.

 

[jmig]

I read that he had separated from lead and was to do a rejoin. If they were fingertip in clouds, he may have gone lost wingman. It is possible to get vertigo after being on the wing in heavy weather and having to transition to instruments almost instantly. If that happened, he may have flown into the ground, or lost it and bailed out too low?

I would have thought with all of the modern radios, cell phones, etc. that if he could have, he would have contacted someone. If he was injured the shock and cold could have killed him by now. The longer it takes to find him the less chance of a successful recovery.