A memorial service is being planned for the pilot of an F-22 which was lost over Alaska.
Capt. Jeffrey Haney's remains have not been found, but the Air Force says evidence at the remote crash site indicates he could not have survived. Part of the fighter jet's ejection seat was found at the site, which means Haney, of Clarklake, Mich., never ejected, Col. Jack McMullen said Friday.Haney was on a nighttime training mission at the time of the crash Tuesday.
My question is this.
I'm by no means an aviation expert, but this is the second time that an F-22 appears to have abruptly departed controlled flight. Why do I say that? There has been no indication that a 'mayday' call was put out by the pilot. It also appears that these airplanes were conducting some type of air intercept mission and were perhaps aggressively throwing the planes around the sky.
This is to be expected if you're flying the premier fighter in the world.
What isn't to be expected is that an airplane departs controlled flight without warning to the pilot. The last time this happened that I can recall is to a Lockheed Martin test pilot in Nevada.
What gives with the F-22?
And please oh please spare me the tired old pilot error thing.
Whilst it is possible that a systemic fault exists in the aircraft (one which after 2 crashes they'd likely pick up on and attempt to correct) i'm afraid pilot error is by far the most likely cause still. It'd take a few more going down in similar circumstances to convince me otherwise.
ReplyDeletePilots are what limits these machines more than anything and it only takes one mistake in such a high performance aircraft to kill you. This was at night, which increases the number of things the pilot may have done wrong. Whilst the tech in them certainly makes the pilots life easier, it doesn't mean they aren't still doing a very complex and dangerous job. Eventually crashes will happen whether a flaw exists or not.
Sorry if that wasn't 2 coherent, i've just come off a 24 hour field exercise and i'm a little tired.
i feel your pain and although i don't like your explanation, it does make sense.
ReplyDeleteget some rest buddy!
Ditto with Grim.
ReplyDeleteQuite likely: controlled flight into terrain (CFIT)
Might be nothing wrong with the plane, but with the LOX (liquid oxygen supply) instead. It'll cause the pilot to lose consciousness and unable to report a problem/mayday call. He'd just fall asleep to never wake again.
ReplyDeletePure speculation of course.
RIP pilot...
i hope the find the cause, while it will overshadowed in numbers and technology by the 35 its still a great plane but if therse a critical flaw the American people have a right to know and the military owes it to make the fix. my heart does go out to the family of the pilot though.
ReplyDeleteBoth CFIT and an O2 problem could account for the lack of a mayday.
ReplyDeleteNavy F18's have had OBOGS issues in the last few years. Letting CO2 back up into the breathing side of the system, causing some "physiological episodes" - hypoxia in other words.
CFIT is always lurking for any aircraft, single seaters are the worst for it though. Very easy to get distracted. Grim makes some good points.
It has already been released that he "fell off the scope", so there will more than likely be Mode C altitude reporting on the radar tape. That will give some insight as to what happened. I'm sure there is some kind of data recorder to be found also.
The Lockheed test crash was "pilot" error. I read the mishap report. Actually lots of people made lots of mistakes, but in the end the pilot did something that killed him.
RIP Capt Haney.
G-LOC (G-induced loss of consciousness) could be another factor. Rapid g onset can black out even an experienced pilot with a g-suit.
ReplyDelete@ FKAS
ReplyDeletePerhaps auto-GCAS & Libelle G-Multiplus pilot protection system would help.
Both technologies have been matured and integrated into other modern fast jets....
In any case, condolences to Haney's family.