News An F-22 and the pilot are missing

[SiberianTiger]

http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2010/11/ap-elmendorf-richardson-searching-for-missing-f22-111710/

Alaska base searching for missing F-22

The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Nov 17, 2010 12:05:22 EST

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A search was under way Wednesday for an overdue Air Force F-22 fighter jet based at a military facility near Anchorage.

Corinna Jones, a spokeswoman at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, said the jet was on a training mission and lost contact with air traffic control at 7:40 p.m. Tuesday. The plane carries one pilot.

The aircraft is assigned to Elmendorf's 3rd Wing, Jones said. The Air Force has not released the pilot's name.

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.

 

[Urwumpe]

I hope the pilot managed to escape, but overdue does not sound too good... that has a taste of controlled flight into terrain.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Military says wreckage from a missing F22 has been found near Alaska's Denali National Park

I hope the pilot managed to eject.

 

[garyw]

Wouldn't ejection have set of a rescue beacon that could be tracked by satellite? I'm afraid that it sounds like CFIT here as well.

 

[Viper1]

Unfortunately I just read this!
http://www.indyposted.com/127476/f-22-raptor-wreckage-found-in-alaska-pilot-still-missing/

 

[Pyromaniac605]

Unfortunately I just read this!
http://www.indyposted.com/127476/f-22-raptor-wreckage-found-in-alaska-pilot-still-missing/

That at least seems that he ejected in time, if he didn't they would have found remains.

Hope they can find him alive and safe.

Darren

 

[Urwumpe]

That at least seems that he ejected in time, if he didn't they would have found remains.

Sometimes, it takes a while until you find remains...

 

[DanM]

I have a bad feeling that this will end not unlike Steve Fossett

 

[Pyromaniac605]

Sometimes, it takes a while until you find remains...

I'm sure his body wouldn't have simply vapourised to ash.

Darren

 

[orb]

O-F Staff Note: Off-topic posts have been deleted from this thread.

Please keep on topic and leave all off-topic posts in the random comments thread.

 

[SiberianTiger]

http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2010/11/missing_f-22_pilot_is_capt_jef.html

F-22 pilot missing since Tuesday night plane crash in Alaska identified as Capt. Jeffrey Haney, formerly of Jackson County
Published: Thursday, November 18, 2010, 1:19 PM Updated: Thursday, November 18, 2010, 3:28 PM

The missing pilot of an Air Force F-22 fighter jet that crashed this week in a remote area of interior Alaska is Air Force Capt. Jeffrey A. Haney, whose mother lives in Jackson County, the man Haney calls his stepdad confirmed today.

Mike Viane, who has lived with Haney's mother for more than 20 years, said Haney's mother, Linda, and father are now on a plane to Alaska, where they will join Haney's wife, Anna, and the couple's two young daughters.
web_f22.jpgMCT News ServiceF-22 Raptor
The two left this morning and are to arrive before midnight tonight, he said from he and Linda Haney's home on Gillette Road west of Brooklyn.

Haney, 31, has been in the Air Force for about five years, Viane said. He graduated from Columbia Central High School in 1997 and went to flight school at Western Michigan University.

He did his first pilot training at the Jackson County Airport, Viane said.
Haney is one of the Air Force's best pilots, Viane said. "Top of the class, as they say."

He is to eventually be an F-22 fighter jet instructor, Viane said.


Haney is stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. His wife and children lived off the base, Viane said.

Haney's Air Force F-22 Raptor went missing Tuesday night during a training mission from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. The fighter jet’s wreckage was discovered Wednesday.

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

The missing F-22 is assigned to Elmendorf’s 3rd Wing.

“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, in a written statement. “Finding the missing pilot is our top priority.”

 

[Urwumpe]

Yikes, the missing has a face and life.

Doesn't sound as if he crashed with his plane so far, but that he is missing does not make things too good... looking at the terrain in the region, it could take days to find him, even if he is alive and not much injured. But possibly he had a bad eject.

http://www.dodbuzz.com/2010/05/26/rust-and-roll-for-f-22-hasc-watches-jsf/

 

[SiberianTiger]

http://www.dodbuzz.com/2010/05/26/rust-and-roll-for-f-22-hasc-watches-jsf/

In December, 2008 one MiG-29 crashed because its tail fell off in flight due to being rust-bitten. Rust can really do bad things.

 

[Urwumpe]

In December, 2008 one MiG-29 crashed because its tail fell off in flight due to being rust-bitten. Rust can really do bad things.

Aircraft and rust are in general a very bad idea, just like rust on a car is never a good omen.

 

[orb]

USAF:
Missing F-22 pilot update

11/19/2010 - JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- Air Force officials here announced that search and rescue teams have found conclusive evidence the pilot of the F-22 Raptor missing since the night of Nov. 16 did not survive the crash.

Capt. Jeffrey Haney, assigned to the 3rd Wing's 525th Fighter Squadron, has been missing since the crash, however, a thorough search and rescue operation continued until today.

Captain Haney, from Clarklake, Mich., was commissioned in the U.S. Air Force in August 2003 and has been stationed here since June 2006.

"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," said Col. Jack McMullen, 3rd Wing commander.

A recovery team at the crash site found a part of the ejection seat, along with several life support items that Captain Haney wore during the flight.

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

"We are all extremely saddened by the loss of this great American, Airman and friend," the colonel continued. "Captain Haney will be missed by the entire 3rd Wing and the (Joint Base Elmendorf) community.

"Right now, our focus is on Jeff's family," Colonel McMullen said. "We mourn their loss, and they are in our thoughts and prayers. We are doing everything in our power to offer them support and aid them during this time of grief."

The aircraft lost contact with air traffic control at 7:40 p.m. Alaska time, Nov. 16, while on a nighttime training mission. Search and rescue aircraft from the Alaska Air National Guard's 11th Rescue Coordination Center discovered the wreckage of the aircraft Nov. 17 in a remote, rugged area approximately 100 miles north of Anchorage near Denali National Park.

Airmen and Soldiers from the 3rd Wing, the 673nd Air Base Wing and U.S. Army Alaska's 3rd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade converged on the site Nov. 17 and 18 with assistance from the Alaska Air National Guard to continue the search for the pilot and prepare for recovery of the aircraft wreckage.

Recovery operations are currently underway and are expected to last several weeks. Air Force officials are standing up a safety investigation board to determine the cause of the mishap.

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