Air Force pilots decline to fly F-22
Plane has history of oxygen problems
Some of the nation’s top aviators are refusing to fly the radar-evading F-22 Raptor, a fighter jet with ongoing problems with the oxygen systems that have plagued the fleet for four years.
At the risk of significant reprimand – or even discharge from the Air Force – fighter pilots are turning down the opportunity to climb into the cockpit of the F-22, the world’s most expensive fighter jet.
The Air Force did not reveal how many of its 200 F-22 pilots, who are stationed at seven military bases across the country, declined their assignment orders.
But current and former Air Force officials say it’s an extremely rare occurrence.
“It’s shocking to me as a fighter pilot and former commander of Air Combat Command that a pilot would decline to get into that airplane,” said retired four-star Gen. Richard E. Hawley, a former F-15 fighter pilot and air combat commander at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Va.
He said he couldn’t remember one specific incident in his 35-year career in which a fighter pilot declined his assignment.
Concern about the safety of the F-22 has grown in recent months as reports about problems with its oxygen systems have offered no clear explanations why pilots are reporting hypoxia-like symptoms in the air. Hypoxia is a condition that can bring on nausea, headaches, fatigue or blackouts when the body is deprived of oxygen.
The Air Force’s handling of the investigation is being closely watched throughout the military and in Congress.
Over the years, F-22 pilots have reported dozens of incidents in which the jet’s systems weren’t feeding them enough oxygen, causing wooziness. This issue led to the grounding of the entire fleet last year for nearly five months, but even after the grounding was lifted the Air Force said investigators could not find a “smoking gun.”
Since the F-22 returned to service in September, the Air Force said, there have been 11 incidents in which F-22 pilots reported hypoxia-like symptoms.
The Air Force doesn’t have specific details on numbers and locations of pilots who have refused to fly the F-22, said Maj. Brandon Lingle, an Air Force spokesman.
“We are generally aware of a small number of pilots who have expressed reservations about flying the F-22, and each of those cases will be handled individually through established processes,” he said.
There are Air Force rules that say a fear of flying, “whether expressed in general terms or limited to a particular aircraft, is a professional dereliction that carries significant consequences,” Lingle said.