|
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has ordered the Air Force torestrict flights of its most advanced fighter jet, the F-22, aftersome pilots complained of dizzy spells and blackouts, officialssaid Tuesday. Since 2008, officials say at least a dozen F-22 pilots havereported suffering a lack of oxygen but engineers have yet tofigure out how to fix the problem. Under Panetta's decision, the F-22 Raptor will no longer beconducting longer-range flights and would instead stay within reachof runways to ensure a pilot could land in an emergency, Pentagonspokesman George Little told reporters. The move followed a report on CBS's "60 Minutes" program on May 6in which two F-22 pilots said they had refused to keep flying thewarplane because of safety fears. The two pilots have sought"whistleblower" legal status through a Republican lawmaker. Little denied the television interviews triggered Panetta'sannouncement but said pilots' concerns "figured into his decisionto direct these actions today." "He is very concerned about pilot safety. And he wants safetyconcerns to be addressed at all levels of command through properchannels." The announcement suggested the Pentagon chief was impatient withthe Air Force, but Little insisted there was no disagreement. "The secretary wants to add his muscle to this," he said. He said that "effective immediately, all F-22 flights will remainwithin the proximity of potential landing locations, to enablequick recovery and landing should a pilot encounter unanticipatedphysiological conditions during flight." The move meant that "long-duration airspace control flights" out ofAlaska would be carried out by other aircraft, Little said, withoutoffering further details. Panetta also called on the Air Force to "expedite" the installationof a back-up oxygen system in the F-22 planes and to provide amonthly progress report on efforts to resolve the undiagnosedtechnical problem. The first back-up systems would be installed byDecember, officials said. The announcement on the radar-evading F-22 marks the latest setbackfor the aircraft, the most expensive in the US fleet at $143million per plane. Touted as the most sophisticated fighter in the world, the F-22 hasyet to be deployed in combat, and its cost overruns became along-running political controversy until the program was curtailed. The fleet of 187 Raptors was grounded last year for four monthsafter a spate of incidents with pilots saying they had passed outor suffered a lack of oxygen. The plane was cleared for flying in September 2011 but engineersare still trying to solve what they suspect may be a problem withthe jet's oxygen supply. Some lawmakers and analysts have demanded that all F-22 flights besuspended until the Air Force figures out what is causing thefainting spells. "Until the actual nature of the problem is uncovered, the pilotsand ground crew remain at risk. The rationale for a fleet widegrounding remains clear," said Winslow Wheeler, from the Center forDefense Information at the Project on Government Oversight. An Air Force scientific board carried out an elaborate inquiry butconcluded the root cause was unclear. Air Force officers who presented the board's findings in March saidthe number of incidents involving a lack of oxygen was extremelysmall, amounting to about one in every 9,000 flights. The officers also said that effects of flying the F-22 are stillnot completely understood. The F-22 flies at a higher altitude than other jets, above 50,000feet, and relies solely on pressurized oxygen instead of a mixtureof oxygen under pressure and air in the cockpit, according to theAir Force. The plane is also faster and more agile than older fighters, withthe pilot facing more gravitational forces than in other planes,officials say. The design of the F-22, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, influencedplans for another new fighter still being developed, the F-35 JointStrike Fighter, also by Lockheed Martin. But officials said there was no sign the F-35 shared the Raptor'soxygen problem. "I think it's safe to say that everybody in leadership is concernedabout this, even in the defense industry environment," Pentagonspokesman Captain John Kirby told the same briefing. "But we are all going to work very hard to make sure that theproblem gets solved for this aircraft and doesn't get repeated inanother.". I am an expert from customnailstickers.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China French Nail Stickers , Lace Nail Stickers Manufacturer, Polish Nail Sticker,and more.
Related Articles -
China French Nail Stickers, Lace Nail Stickers Manufacturer,
|
