Top aviators are refusing to fly F-22 Raptor

Some pilots refuse to fly F-22 Raptor fighter jet
By W.J. HENNIGAN
Los Angeles Times
Published: May 3, 2012
LOS ANGELES

Some of the nation's top aviators are refusing to fly the radar-evading F-22 Raptor, a fighter jet with ongoing problems with the oxygen systems that have plagued the fleet for four years.

At the risk of significant reprimand - or even discharge from the Air Force - fighter pilots are turning down the opportunity to climb into the cockpit of the F-22, the world's most expensive fighter jet.

The Air Force did not reveal how many of its 200 F-22 pilots, who are stationed at seven military bases across the country, declined their assignment orders. But current and former Air Force officials say it's an extremely rare occurrence.

"It's shocking to me as a fighter pilot and former commander of Air Combat Command that a pilot would decline to get into that airplane," said retired four-star Gen. Richard E. Hawley, a former F-15 fighter pilot and air combat commander at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Va.

He said he couldn't remember one specific incident in his 35-year career in which a fighter pilot declined his assignment.

Concern about the safety of the F-22 has grown in recent months as reports about problems with its oxygen systems have offered no clear explanations why pilots are reporting hypoxia-like symptoms in the air. Hypoxia is a condition that can bring on nausea, headaches, fatigue or blackouts when the body is deprived of oxygen.
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