F-22 jet pilot OK after obvious touchdown gear collapse at Eglin

An F-22 Raptor fighter jet suffered a mishap upon touchdown at Eglin Air Power Base, Florida, on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the 325th Fighter Wing advised Air Power Instances. Nobody was harm within the accident.

In keeping with unverified pictures posted to social media that afternoon, the jet’s left foremost touchdown gear collapsed when it touched down on the runway round 10 a.m. native time. The destabilized airplane veered off and got here to a cease, resting nose-down within the grass.

“The pilot is in good situation and has been launched from the 96th Medical Group’s care following analysis,” Capt. Sarah Johnson stated in an electronic mail Tuesday.

Johnson declined to touch upon what precipitated the mishap or the injury incurred, citing an ongoing security investigation.

F-22 touchdown gear woes are pretty frequent throughout the fleet.

An Air Fight Command inspection final yr of the Raptors at Eglin, plus 10 % of the fighters at different F-22 bases, discovered that not less than one in 5 jets within the complete F-22 stock had an incorrectly rigged touchdown gear.

Almost 40 F-22s have been re-rigged due to that inspection, Air Power Instances beforehand reported. The service owns almost 190 Raptors.

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It’s unclear whether or not configuring touchdown gears in a means aside from specified within the instruction handbook stops them from deploying, or if airmen rig them otherwise to unravel an issue brought on by doing it based on the handbook’s specs.

“The 325 FW continues to observe Air Power steerage and procedures for technical order updates,” Johnson stated.

The wing — which incorporates the service’s solely F-22 coaching unit — has been stationed at Eglin since Hurricane Michael worn out a lot of close by Tyndall Air Power Base in 2018.

5 Raptors had accidents costing greater than $600,000 in fiscal 2021, based on Air Power Security Heart knowledge.