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F-22 Pilots Continue To Risk Their Lives As ‘Oxygen Problem’ Remains Unsolved

Friday, June 15, 2012 1:37

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After two dozen incidents oxygen incidents in the Air Force’s new stealth F-22 Raptor jets the problem still hasn’t been fixed.

RT – Pilots continue to risk their lives flying the Air Force’s deadly F-22 Raptor jets, even after reporting more than two-dozen incidents onboard the craft. Now, however, the Pentagon thinks that the plane might not even be the cause of their concerns.

Investigators with the US Air Force are telling members of the media that the ”Combat Edge” G-suit vest worn by pilots while flying F-22 Raptor stealth jets may part of what’s to blame for a series of complaints filed by servicemen injured during training missions. At least 25 pilots have reported dizziness, disorientation and other symptoms similar to those associated with hypoxia while flying the F-22s; one pilot, Captain Jeff Haney, was killed during a November 2010 plane crash that was believed to be triggered by a malfunction with his oxygen supply.

Now after repeated investigations into the actual F-22 jets themselves, the Air Force is considering a component of the actual outfit worn in the sky as a cause of the problem. Although the G suit vests are worn to avoid pilots from blacking out during high-speed operations, a statement emailed this week by the Air Force suggests that the same apparatus has also “increases the difficulty of pilot breathing under certain circumstances.”

“Recent testing has identified some vulnerability and reliability issues in the upper pressure garment worn by F-22 pilots,” Lieutenant Colonel Edward Sholtis writes this week in an email on behalf of the Air Combat Command.

“Testing has determined that the upper pressure garment increases the difficulty of pilot breathing under certain circumstances,” Sholtis explains.

Sholtis adds that the Combat Edge itself isn’t believed to be responsible for the actual incidents reported by the more than two-dozen injured pilots, but thinks it is playing a role nonetheless.

“The upper pressure garment is not ‘the’ cause of physiological incidents, and we still have other variables to work through before we can determine what the major factors are and how they interact to produce the number of unexplained incidents we’ve seen,” Sholtis says. “We’re also looking at the layering of other aircrew flight equipment as contributing to that difficulty.”

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta ordered an investigation into the F-22s after two pilots publicly spoke out about their concerns on national television earlier this year. The Air Force had originally issued a letter of reprimand to one of those pilots, Captain Josh Wilson, after he refused to continue flying in the Raptors. Last month the Air Force finally imposed flight restrictions on the craft a year-and-a-half after Captain Haney was killed during a training mission.

The history of the jets operational problems as detailed by Wikipedia:

Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor

The Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor is a single-seat, twin-engine fifth-generation supermaneuverable fighter aircraft that uses stealth technology. It was designed primarily as an air superiority fighter, but has additional capabilities that include ground attack, electronic warfare, and signals intelligence roles.^[5]Lockheed Martin Aeronautics is the prime contractor and is responsible for the majority of the airframe, weapon systems and final assembly of the F-22. Program partner Boeing Defense, Space & Security provides the wings, aft fuselage, avionics integration, and training systems.

The aircraft was variously designated F-22 and F/A-22 during the years prior to formally entering USAF service in December 2005 as the F-22A. Despite a protracted and costly development period, the United States Air Force considers the F-22 a critical component of U.S. tactical air power, and claims that the aircraft is unmatched by any known or projected fighter,^[6] while Lockheed Martin claims that the Raptor’s combination of stealth, speed, agility, precision and situational awareness, combined with air-to-air and air-to-ground combat capabilities, makes it the best overall fighter in the world today.^[7] Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, former Chief of the Australian Defence Force, said in 2004 that the “F-22 will be the most outstanding fighter plane ever built.”^[8]

The high cost of the aircraft, a lack of clear air-to-air combat missions because of delays in the Russian and Chinese fifth-generation fighter programs, a U.S. ban on Raptor exports, and the ongoing development of the planned cheaper and more versatile F-35 resulted in calls to end F-22 production.^{[N 1]} In April 2009 the US Department of Defense proposed to cease placing new orders, subject to Congressional approval, for a final procurement tally of 187 operational aircraft.^[10] The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 lacked funding for further F-22 production. The final F-22 rolled off the assembly line on 13 December 2011 during a ceremony at Dobbins Air Reserve Base.^[11]

Since 2010, the aircraft has been plagued by unresolved problems with the pilots reporting hypoxia related symptoms. One failure of the oxygen system contributed to a crash, although the USAF stated pilot error was the official cause. The fleet was grounded for four months in 2011 as a precaution. The aircraft have resumed flight operations, but reported problems have continued.

Operational problems

On February 11, 2007, twelve Raptors flying from Hawaii to Japan were forced to turn back due to a software glitch in the F-22s’ on-board navigational computers.^[220]. During 2010–2012 periodic operational hazards surfaced regarding F-22 operations. In February 2010 the entire fleet was grounded due to rusting ejection seat rods.^[221] In May 2011 the entire fleet was grounded following the November 2010 crash near Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. The F-22 had been restricted to flying below 25,000 ft while the Honeywell oxygen generating system was inspected. After five incidents of pilots suffering from hypoxia and decompression,^[222] General William M. Fraser III of Air Combat Command grounded the F-22 fleet indefinitely on 3 May 2011.^[223]^[224] In June 2011, the investigation broadened across the life support systems,^[225] and aircraft deliveries were stopped.^[226]

In July 2011 the investigation suspected a scenario in which the pilots were poisoned by carbon monoxide from the engines while warming up the aircraft inside the hangars.^[227] Tests on pilots have found other chemicals have been inhaled from the on-board oxygen generating system (OBOGS), including oil fumes and propane.^[228]^[229] In September 2011, the F-22 returned to flight with added pilot safety equipment and careful monitoring of crew and aircraft, while the investigation continued.^[230]^[231] On 21 October 2011, Langley’s F-22s were grounded after a suspected oxygen system problem;^[232]^[233] Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson grounded their aircraft as well.^[234] All aircraft were cleared to fly again on 25 October.^[235]

In late October 2011, Lockheed Martin was awarded a $24M contract to find the cause of the oxygen system difficulty, as well as providing other sustainment functions.^[236] In mid-December 2011, the Air Force said that there had been 14 episodes since September, when the F-22s returned to operation, in which pilots experienced “physiological incidents” which might have been caused by a lack of oxygen.^[237] A USAF report released on 13 January 2012 stated that toxins entering the aircraft environmental control system and associated onboard oxygen generation system caused the hypoxia-like symptoms in pilots and aircraft maintenance personnel between April and September 2011. The report did not conclusively identify the cause for the problem.^[238] Up to April 2012 seven serious accidents occurred with two pilots killed. Since the redeployment in September 2011, 11 incidents of pilots reporting hypoxia-like symptoms have been recorded.^[239]

Air Force pilots have reported being pressured to continue flying the aircraft in spite of fearing for their safety because of the still-unresolved problems with the oxygen system.^[240] And half of all F-22 pilots have “lost confidence in the aircraft”.^[241] General Mike Hostage stated that some of the 200 Raptor pilots have asked to transfer to other areas because of the problem.^[242] Hostage said that he will start flying the aircraft himself to better understand the relevant issues.^[243]

In May 2012 it was announced that two pilots, Major Jeremy Gordon and Captain Josh Wilson, who had appeared on the CBS news program 60 Minutes, saying they didn’t feel safe in the jet, were considered whistleblowers protected by the federal whistleblower legislation.^[244] Defense Secretary Leon Panetta subsequently ordered that all F-22 flights stay “within the proximity of potential landing locations” as more pilots came forward to report hypoxia-like symptoms.^[245]^[246]

F-22 pilots suffer from a “Raptor Cough” more often than the pilots of other fighters, but the cause also remains unknown.^[247] This may be due to a combination of the C2A1 chemical warfare filter, which is now installed on every flight and showers the pilots with a fine dust of carbon particles, and high concentrations of oxygen caused by high-G high altitude maneuvers that other American jet fighters can not duplicate, leading to the collapse of the pilot’s pulmonary alveolus.^[248] However the routine use of the chemical warfare filter was found to be unneeded and has been discontinued.^[249] Another cause may be the pressure-garment worn by the pilots which may interfere with their breathing; the fix may be to use the more evolved design built for the F-35.^[250]^[251] In the meantime the pilots have been instructed to not wear the pressure vests during routine flights.^[252]

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