An F-22 Raptor crashed today in California, the second Raptor down in five years of service. This should not be news: military aircraft crash as a matter of course. (How many hundreds of F-16s have turned lawn-dart since 1978?) But when you invest $350 million, per copy, in a tiny fleet of just 190 aircraft, losing a single jet in a routine accident becomes, quite artificially, a huge freaking deal.
I hope the pilot’s okay.
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I shall be praying for the pilot as well. Thank you for the info.
Pilot’s deader than elvis, unfortunately. No word on why he crashed or whether he tried to eject yet though.
F-22 down, pilot lost
Looks like they found him and pronounced him dead at the hospital. No word yet on whether or not he tried to eject. Guy was a test pilot on a test flight.