F-22 wreckage found in Alaska, pilot still missing

Alaska Dispatch ^ | 17 Nov 2010 | unattributed

[fso301]

Last I heard smarter minds prevailed and they decided against destroying the tooling for F-22s.

Thanks.

[Fundamentally Fair]

WTF is going on?

Right, because military fighters NEVER crash. Ever.

</conspiracy talk>

[TankerKC]

...and why they were low on fuel so close to base.

They have to hit a tanker every so often to keep up their proficiency.

[Hardraade]

Did you see wreckage? Personally? And would you be qualified to recognize the remnants of an F-22? And would you be able to pinpoint any wreckage you saw, personally, on a picture, geographically?

Everything is suspect by now. Except that some very hefty excrement has hit a very large fan ;).

[null and void]

Nope. I just didn’t know that an air dominance fighter would be expected to carry nuclear weapons.

[Alas Babylon!]

As an airman, I’m very saddened by this, but the conspiracy theorists take my breath away.

Worse than vultures; can’t wait to pick the carcass apart BEFORE we even find it.

I guess if you’ve never lived it for real, at least being a keyboard commando would make up for some of the shame....

[Hoffer Rand]

Lord, guard and guide the men who fly
Through the great spaces of the sky;
Be with them traversing the air
In darkening storms or sunshine fair

[AnnaZ]

What about a bird strike?

That actually happened to a friend of mine. Video here. He and the other pilot he was with (it was a training flight) ejected, which he says is "Not fun. At all."

[Hardraade]

Yeah well, seems the pilot has been identified by now but not found. So let’s just hope they find him before it gets too late.

Maybe if there’s plenty of snow around, he could dig in.

[hattend]

Any update yet?

I’m in King Salmon (SW Alaska) and haven’t heard a thing.

[smokingfrog]

Missing Elmendorf F-22 pilot identified

Air Force Capt. Jeffrey A. Haney

[smokingfrog]

Crash area searched for missing F-22 pilot

"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 searchers were on the ground at the site from 1 or 2 p.m. until dark, Hayes said.

Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson spokesman John Pennell said they plane was not carrying explosives but did have flares and chaff onboard, as well as training rounds.

----

"We have to assume that he's still alive," Pennell said.

Temperatures dipped below zero both Tuesday and Wednesday night, according to the National Weather Service. The pilot would have had survival gear and expert training, said Col. Jack McMullen, commander of the Air Force's 3rd Wing. McMullen and much of the local Air Force community were holding out hope that the pilot would be found alive, he said.

[smokingfrog]

Update at # 52

Pilot has been identified, but still not found.

Keep praying.

[smokingfrog]

A lot of heavy breathing there. Must have been “exciting.”

Was your friend the trainee or the trainer?

[smokingfrog]

Alaska’s joint forces continue coordinations in search of F-22 Raptor pilot

F-22 Aircraft Recovery Operation Ground Support, 18 November 2010, JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska. Air Force convoy ready to move.

"What we're looking for now is the pilot," said Air Force Lt. Col. Scott Jackson, Emergency Operations Center director.

"We want to know, ... is the ejector seat in the crash or is he is out in the area somewhere. Once we determine that, then we'll begin securing the aircraft crash site and ensuring its safe."

There are many challenges that come with an operation on a scale and in a location like this, Colonel Jackson said.

"Obviously Alaska's size, terrain and weather conditions make an operation like this difficult, logistically," said Air Force Col. Jack McMullen, 3rd Wing commander.

"The training area where the F-22 crashed is larger than the state of Vermont.

It's remote, with no maintained roads in the winter and the terrain is very rugged.

All these factors complicate the process even in good weather. When you factor in sub-zero temperatures and the potential for heavy snowfall, you see this is truly a massive undertaking."

[MestaMachine]

Do you find it a tad strange that there has been NO national coverage of this? I would think that a crashed F22 and a missing pilot would be worth at least a mention.

[smokingfrog]

It is strange, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot to report either. You’d think they would have landed a pararescue crew by helicopter by now, to at least tell us if the pilot ejected or not. I haven’t heard one way or the other. Have you?

[MestaMachine]

Nada, which is also strange. They say the plane made a huge crater and there is water at the site. If this isn’t a national news story, what is?
I mean, they have time for abu’s every utterance, but not this?

[MestaMachine]

Nada, which is also strange. They say the plane made a huge crater and there is water at the site. If this isn’t a national news story, what is?
I mean, they have time for abu’s every utterance, but not this?

[smokingfrog]

If the plane made the crater, maybe there’s not much left of it?