Oxygen Problems With The F22 Jet Causing Pilots To Refuse To Fly
In a rather surprising move a small number of USAF pilots have started refusing to fly the Air Force’s darling jet fighter – the F-22 Raptor.
It seems that according to an investigation by the USAF that there is a continual problem with with the Raptor’s oxygen system. Coolant leaking in the to oxygen system and problematic valves connecting to the masks worn by the pilots are among the issues being investigated.
The other issue that has been reported by a large number of Raptor pilots is pilots returning from flights in the Raptor with hypoxia-like symptoms. This occurs when our brains are deprived of oxygen and can cause wooziness, poor or delayed decision making, and in some rare cases unconsciousness and death.
While USAF investigators have said that there is no single ‘smoking gun’ they have increased the monitoring of the F-22 pilot’s health and a back-up oxygen system is being installed on the Raptors.
Air Combat Command chief General Mike Hostage has said that yes there are few pilots that have refused to fly the Raptor and that they will not be forced to fly any plane against their will.
It is believed that these oxygen issues may have been behind a deadly 2010 Raptor crash in Alaska.
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Steven Hodson Steven has been around the tech world long enough to see most of the stuff we think of cool happen before which leads to a certain bit of cynicism that has contributed to him being known as the cranky old fart of the Internet. Besides sharing some of the goodness that he finds with you here at 42x you can also find him curating some digital goodness at Winextra (tech type stuff) and Rotten Gumdrops (for your daily dose of WTF).
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