F-22 Crash in California

[skier17]

http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/03/25/air-force-jet-crashes-in-california/

 

[SIG600]

Hope the dude got out.

 

[PimpJuice]

Hope the dude got out.

First F-22 crash, correct?

 

[AvroGuy]

First F-22 crash, correct?

Nope. Well if you are counting the YF-22

 

[LearLove]

from this article it sounds like the pilot was a lockheed test pilot.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090326/ap_on_re_us/f22_crash

 

[chuckthepilot]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29881713/

"The pilot was David Cooley, 49, a 21-year Air Force veteran who joined Lockheed Martin in 2003, the company said in a statement. The company did not release any details of the accident or say whether or not Cooley attempted to eject."

Very bad news. Prayers to all involved.

 

[Huggyu2]

Nope. Well if you are counting the YF-22

Wrong again: 3.
The YF-22 crash occurred long ago.
Since the jet has gone into production, there have been 2 crashes: today's, and one back in late '04. That one was a software glitch. The jet got off the ground, the computer/flight controls went stupid, and he jumped out very low. It was off the departure end of runway 04 at Nellis, IIRC.

There ought to be another category other than "Class A mishap" when the accident results in the loss of a $338M jet. Sure seems more significant than dropping an AMRAAM on the ramp, and causing $1.2M damage.

 

[El-Rushbo]

Wrong again: 3.
The YF-22 crash occurred long ago.
Since the jet has gone into production, there have been 2 crashes: today's, and one back in late '04. That one was a software glitch. The jet got off the ground, the computer/flight controls went stupid, and he jumped out very low. It was off the departure end of runway 04 at Nellis, IIRC.

There ought to be another category other than "Class A mishap" when the accident results in the loss of a $338M jet. Sure seems more significant than dropping an AMRAAM on the ramp, and causing $1.2M damage.

They need to reclasify the dollar ranges for mishap categories. I did a little research a while back and found the same dollar amounts going all the way back to the 1970s.

Today, if the pilot drops and breaks the helmet on an aircraft like JSF its probably going to be at least a Class B, which is just ridiculous.

 

[Be 23]

The problem with the cost thresholds is that they're in a joint document requiring consensus from the services to change them. In the mid 90's when the cost of a totaled Humvee crossed $20k the Army finally agreed to change that from $10k. The AF rumor is that the Navy is keeping the B at $200k for something about ships tied to piers, causing a collective WTF? from the AF and Army safety geeks. The $1mil class A is a political thing the flag O's and political appointees are scared to mess with.

Thoughts and prayers for Cooley, his family and the test pilot community.