Lost F-22 Found, “Pilot Still Missing”

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The wreckage of an F-22 lost Tuesday may have been found 100 miles north of Anchorage, but as of Wednesday evening the Air Force could not account for its pilot. The missing aircraft was part of the 3rd Wing at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. A report from the Wing’s public affairs office Wednesday evening said the wreckage had been found but the pilot was “still missing” and “finding the missing pilot is our top priority.” The mishap aircraft had been part of a two-ship of F-22s and had finished a training sortie. The pilot, whose name had not been released at the time AVweb went to press, had previously undergone Arctic survival training, according to the Air Force. Details about the events leading up to the mishap are few.

At about 7:40 p.m., one aircraft “fell off the radar scope and the pilot lost communications,” according to the Air Force, which said the other pilot went to a tanker and refueled before continuing a search for the mishap pilot. That search was unsuccessful. Air National Guard aircraft, a C-130 and HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters, then “searched the entire night,” and in the morning found “a site that fits the data and description” of where the accident likely occurred.

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