The Air Force needs to “come to grips” with the unacceptably high number of hypoxia-like incidents affecting F-22 pilots, congressional leaders said Thursday, while announcing a new theory that could explain the breathing problems: life-protecting vests worn in flight.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said the Air Force has not accepted that the F-22 has a high rate of hypoxia events — more than 10 times that of any other fighter, according to an Air Force information sheet sent to the lawmakers this week.
The undated letter, signed by Maj. Gen. Edward L. Bolton, the Air Force deputy assistant secretary for budget, also mentions the vests as a potential problem.
Studies by the Navy’s Experimental Dive Unit have identified a failure rate in the pressure suits — including the vests — that pilots wear in flight, Bolton wrote.
That prompted Air Combat Command this week to order that all pilots in training not wear the vests, while pilots in nontraining flights must wear them, ACC spokesman Lt. Col. Tadd Sholtis said in a statement to Air Force Times.
“[It’s the] beginning of some causation,” Warner told reporters Thursday. “An overwhelming number of test suits have an enormous failure rate. … I am hopeful we may be on the path of resolving this issue and finding a solution.”
In the letter to the lawmakers, Bolton said that the NEDU’s Life Support “Work of Breathing” tests have provided early insight in altitude chamber and centrifuge testing that a “combination of factors in the life support systems is contributing to restricted breathing and/or less than optimum delivery of oxygen to the pilot.”
Maj. Gen. Charles Lyon told The Associated Press on Thursday that the Air Force isn’t ready to declare victory, but the vest restriction is a possible root cause of the problem. Additionally, leaking hose and hose connectors could also be restricting the amount of oxygen getting to the pilot’s lungs.
Lyon said the Air Force is also close to ruling out the possibility that contaminants were getting into the pilot’s lungs.
In addition to the Navy’s work, NASA is conducting an independent analysis of the F-22 Life Support System anomalies, with an estimated completion date of this summer, according to Bolton.
The letter also said a survey conducted in 2011 by ACC’s surgeon general found that the majority of F-22 pilots asked were not confident in the Raptor’s on-board oxygen generating system. The survey contributed to a May 2011 stand down of the fleet that lasted four months.
“[It is] totally unacceptable, and really means that we have to get to the bottom of this issue,” Warner said.
The 2011 stand down was the only time the Air Force grounded the planes servicewide, but there have been commander-directed groundings. As recently as March, F-22s at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, were kept out of the air to address pilot concerns following a “cluster” of hypoxia-like incidents. In October, F-22s at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., were grounded following two hypoxia-like incidents in the same day. That prompted Elmendorf and Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, commanders to briefly pause flights, according to Bolton’s letter.
In addition to the unexplained hypoxia-like incidents involving pilots, there have been six ground maintainers who have experienced similar symptoms. Kinzinger said Thursday that the Air Force seems to say that the symptoms are not equivalent to those of the pilots, a statement “that remains to be seen, and I have yet to be sold.”
About one month ago, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta ordered the Air Force to limit F-22 flights in regions where it would be difficult for pilots to land if they experience signs of oxygen deficiency.
On May 31, an F-22 was involved in a mishap at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., when the pilot in training caused a “ground incident” during touch-and-go training. The pilot was not injured.
The pilot had transferred from another airframe and was in training with the 43rd Fighter Squadron. He was on his second flight, after 10 simulator training exercises and more than 100 hours in academic training, Tyndall spokeswoman Lt. Melanie Holliday said.
The Air Force has started an investigation into the crash and has not classified the type of mishap.
No comments:
Post a Comment