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F-22 crashes in California desert near air base

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EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – One of the Air Force's top-of-the-line F-22 fighter jets crashed Wednesday in the high desert of Southern California. There was no immediate word on whether the pilot ejected.

The F-22 Raptor crashed 35 miles northeast of Edwards Air Force Base, Pentagon spokesman Gary Strassburg said. He had no information about the area where the jet crashed.

Rescue crews were en route and the status of the pilot was unknown, said Air Force Maj. David Small at the Pentagon.

Small said the jet, assigned to Edwards' 412th Test Wing, was on a test mission but he did not know its nature.

Call to the base public affairs phone numbers were answered by recording machines.

The radar-evading F-22s each cost $140 million and are designed for air dominance. The warplanes can carry air-to-air missiles but are capable of ground attack as well.

The $65 billion F-22 program is embattled, with some opponents contending that a different warplane under development, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, is more versatile and less costly at $80 million per plane.

The U.S. is committed to 183 F-22s, down from the original plan laid out in the 1980s to build 750.

Its prime contractor, Lockheed Martin Corp., says there are 95,000 jobs at 1,000 companies connected to the F-22.

A spokesman for Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin referred all calls about the crash to the Air Force.

Lockheed is trying to convince the Pentagon to buy as many as 20 more F-22s. The military is expected to signal its intentions when the 2010 Defense Department budget is released next month.

The F-22 is able to fly at supersonic speeds without using afterburners. That allows it to reach and stay in a battlespace faster and longer without being easily detected.

The fighter, powered by two Pratt & Whitney engines, is 62 feet long, has a wingspan of 44 1/2 feet and is flown by a single pilot.
F-22 crashes in California desert near air base
 
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Stealth jet crashes in US desert

Wednesday, 25 March 2009

BBC NEWS | Americas | Stealth jet crashes in US desert

58671ed0cb8dd53a26469a64a9dac32d.jpg

The F-22 is the US air force's top-of-the-range fighter
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A state-of-the-art US air force F-22 fighter has crashed in the desert in southern California, the Pentagon says.


The fate of the pilot was not immediately known after the plane, which was on a test mission, came down near Edwards Air Force Base.

The US air force website lists the F-22 Raptor, which is made by Lockheed Martin, as its newest fighter.

The air force said the jet has "better reliability and maintainability than any fighter aircraft in history".

The F-22 crashed at about 1000 local time (1700 GMT), officials said.

Rescue teams were reported to be on their way to the crash site.

A board of officers will investigate the crash, the air force said.

The $140m (£96m), supersonic F-22 is a so-called fifth generation jet, and arguably the world's most sophisticated fighter.

It is capable of both air-to-air and ground attacks.

But the $65 billion F-22 programme has faced criticism, with opponents saying the jet is too costly and not sufficiently versatile.

The US government is committed to buying 183 F-22s reduced from the original plan laid out in the 1980s to build 750, the Associated Press news agency reported.

The air force said the crash was the second involving an F-22.

In the previous crash, which happened in December 2004 during the aircraft's test period, the pilot ejected safely.
 
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F-22A Raptor jet crashes in California near Edwards Air Force Base

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. — One of the Air Force’s top-of-the-line F-22 fighter jets crashed Wednesday in the high desert of Southern California. There was no immediate word on whether the pilot ejected.

The F-22A Raptor crashed 35 miles northeast of Edwards Air Force Base, Pentagon spokesman Gary Strassburg said. The Bureau of Land Management identifies the area as Harper Dry Lake, a vast and empty expanse of sometimes marshy flat land.

Rescue crews were at the site in the afternoon but there was no information on the status of the pilot, said Lt. Col. Karen Platt, an Air Force spokeswoman at the Pentagon.

The crash occurred at 10 a.m., said Airman 1st Class William O’Brien, a spokesman at Edwards.

The jet, assigned to the 411th Flight Test Squadron of Edwards’ 412th Test Wing, was on a test mission, said Air Force Maj. David Small at the Pentagon. Small did not know the nature of the mission.

The radar-evading F-22s each cost $140 million and are designed for air dominance. The warplanes can carry air-to-air missiles but are capable of ground attack as well.

The $65 billion F-22 program is embattled, with some opponents contending that a different warplane under development, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, is more versatile and less costly at $80 million per plane.

F-22s were grounded for two weeks after one crashed at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada in December 2004. They were cleared again to fly after a review, and an Air Force statement at the time said officials were “highly confident in the design, testing and development” of the aircraft. The pilot in that crash successfully ejected.

The U.S. is committed to 183 F-22s, down from the original plan laid out in the 1980s to build 750.

Its prime contractor, Lockheed Martin Corp., says there are 95,000 jobs at 1,000 companies connected to the F-22.

A spokesman for Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin referred all calls about the crash to the Air Force.

Lockheed is trying to convince the Pentagon to buy as many as 20 more F-22s. The military is expected to signal its intentions when the 2010 Defense Department budget is released next month.

The F-22 is able to fly at supersonic speeds without using afterburners. That allows it to reach and stay in a battlespace faster and longer without being easily detected.

The fighter, powered by two Pratt & Whitney engines, is 62 feet long, has a wingspan of 44 1/2 feet and is flown by a single pilot.
 
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Updates... sad news.

Air Force jet crashes in California; pilot killed


Air Force jet crashes in California; pilot killed - CNN.com

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An Air Force F-22A fighter jet crashed Wednesday near Edwards Air Force Base in California, killing the test pilot, the Air Force said.

The single-seater crashed about 10:30 a.m. (1:30 p.m. ET) for unknown reasons, Air Force officials said.

Lockheed Martin said the test pilot, David Cooley, 49, of Palmdale, California, joined the company in 2003 and was a 21-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force.

The fighter was on a test mission when it crashed about 35 miles northeast of Edwards AFB, where it was stationed, the Air Force said in a news release.

At $150 million apiece, the F-22A is the most expensive Air Force fighter.

In 2004, an F-22 Raptor crashed on a training mission in the Nevada desert. The pilot ejected and was not hurt, though the jet was destroyed.

The plane was designed in the 1980s to provide a stealthy method to enter Soviet air space and strike Soviet bombers if the USSR attempted a nuclear strike.

Once the Cold War ended, the Air Force found a new mission for the F-22 as a long-range fighter with a sophisticated stealth design and state-of-the-art equipment that no other plane could rival.

However, the rising cost of the plane and numerous design and software problems threatened the program, which was almost eliminated by Congress.

In the end, the aircraft survived, and most of the problems were fixed -- except for the price tag, which forced the Air Force to buy fewer aircraft.
 
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this is not first crash earlier there was an accident while it was landing ...the plane sustained injuries and the pilot was safe .....there is a video of this too ill put it up shortly :tup:

anything going up must come down but it came too fast i suppose ....
this is gonna be difficult for USAF and its raptor programme ...feel sorry for the pilot though ...i bet the exact reason for the crash wont be revealed .....memories of history channels videos comin to my mind the most advanced jet ....

:cheers:
 
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Yeah, but the pilot and plane survived that crash.Just minor damages.Anyway this is a huge loss USAF.I am sure F22 Pilot's are the most experienced USAF Pilots.
 
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Yes I also read this news. And it shows us that any new state of art machine is not 100% safe. But it LHM will surely will come up to make more safer this Deadly Air Wolf.
Qais.
 
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This would definitely be a computer malfunction because in a twin engine jet, a loss of one engine can still bring the plane safely home.
I think this is the third incident with the F-22, apart from the 2 mentioned above, there was another where the **** pit jammed and pilot was stuck inside and it had to be cut by a wielding torch to remove the pilot.
 
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This perfect fighter - everybody demanding from aussie to brits to japs - afetr all its not so perfect. this news might give them a good night sleep.
 
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Forusre a big lost! a the pilot a life! & then a expensive toy like that!
 
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This perfect fighter - everybody demanding from aussie to brits to japs - afetr all its not so perfect. this news might give them a good night sleep.

It is a perfect fighter, there is no doubt in that however that does not mean it is not prone to accidents. Accidents do happen and besides before jumping on to conclusion and disregarding the product, we should wait for the report to come after all it may turn out to be a human error and not the machine.
 
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I think this crash will further make room for the F-35 to take over the role as America's main air fighter.
May the pilot R.I.P., it's a sad way to go.
 
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