The rst F-22 loss came on December 20, 2004,
involving a 422nd TES aircraft (00-4014), which
crashed on take-o from Nellis. Maj Robert ‘Shark’
Garland ejected safely. The second loss was on
March 25, 2009, when USAF veteran and Lockheed
Martin test pilot David P. ‘Cools’ Cooley was killed
in the crash of EMD Raptor 08 (serial 91-4008) after
excessive g-forces led to a loss of consciousness.
At rst, the entry into USAF service was near
seamless for the Raptor, but then some gremlins
reared their heads — problems with the ight
control system and the oxygen generating system
came into focus but have since been cured. After
the tragic loss of Capt Je rey ‘Bong’ Haney on
November 16, 2010 when his F-22A (serial 06-4125)
of the 525th Fighter Squadron crashed 120nm
north-east of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson
in Alaska, the USAF determined on July 21, 2011
that the crash was due to pilot error — that Haney
did not pull out of a simulated ground-attack
manoeuvre in time. This nding was challenged by
his widow who issued a lawsuit against many of
the F-22’s manufacturers (Lockheed Martin, Boeing,
Honeywell International and Pratt & Whitney)
for supplying an ‘unreasonably defective’ aircraft.
Indeed, it seemed that some 14 pilots had reported
lack of oxygen problems or hypoxia-like incidents,
which led to several earlier, short-term groundings.
Some of these and other F-22 pilots refused to ythe jets until the problem(s) were found and
corrected. The entire eet of operational Raptors
was grounded on May 3, 2011 until a x for their
On-Board Oxygen Generating Systems (OBOGS)
could be implemented. The grounding was lifted
on September 21, 2011.
The USAF completed a formal investigation of
the aircraft life-support system and associated
OBOGS, and ruled out contamination as the root
cause. The USAF concluded that impedance/
restriction caused by life-support system elements
were signi cant contributors to the physiological
incidents and is pursuing actions to resolve the
problem, including removal of the aircrew C21A
lter pack, and testing of a modi ed aircrew
upper pressure garment. Additionally, the USAF
installed a back-up emergency oxygen system
to provide emergency oxygen in the event of an
environmental control system shutdown, rapid
decompression, or failure of the on-board oxygen
generator.
The USAF resumed normal ight operations with
the F-22 Raptor on April 4, 2013 after modi cations
were completed across the eet.
The fourth loss of a Raptor came on November
15, 2012 about ve miles south-east of Tyndall AFB,
Florida after a pilot ejected from an F-22A (serial
00-4013) during a routine training mission. The
pilot su ered minor injuries.RAPTOR LOSSES
On November 15, 2012, F-22A serial 00-4013 crashed near
Tyndall AFB, Florida. The pilot ejected safely. USAF/Lisa NormanRAPTOR^3128-37 Niemi and Service C.indd 31 28/09/2017 14:51