Posted on 12/01/2010 7:18:14 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
After two weeks of intense effort, a joint Air Force and Army team has suspended recovery and restoration efforts for the F-22 Raptor that crashed Nov. 16 near Cantwell, Alaska.
An Air Force team did recover the remains of the pilot, Capt. Jeff Haney. Safety experts are now examining the wreckage as they seek to determine the cause of the accident.
Air Force officials say much as been done to clean up the crash site but caution some risks remain. Any debris discovered by snowmachiners or others in the area should not be handled, said Air Force Col. (Dr.) Paul Friedrichs, the JBER medical group commander.
"Modern composite aircraft, including the F-22, use materials that can present health risks if they are mishandled," Dr. Friedrichs said.
Air Force officials established a call center at (907) 552-9321 for anyone who finds debris that may be part of the aircraft so trained technicians can recover the material safely and minimize any long-term impact to the environment. Visible pieces of the wreckage have been removed from the site.
"The health risks become significant if you don't have the proper equipment and are cutting or grinding pieces of the airplane," Dr. Friedrichs said.
Although the risk of medical problems is low if someone picks up a part of the plane and immediately places it down, Air Force officials strongly encourage anyone who believes they may have found a piece of the plane not to handle it, due to risk of skin irritation or rash from the materials used to build the plane.
"When our technicians work with these materials, they wear eye protection, respirators and thick, industrial gloves," said Master Sgt. Monty Wood, an F-22 maintenance supervisor.
(Excerpt) Read more at af.mil ...
yah...shattered carbon fiber composites can be some wicked stuff to handle, and even small pieces will put a hurt on you.
From this, I get an impression that the pilot went down with the aircraft. Is that the case?
What ever happened, happened fast and furious...
The Air Force has recovered the remains of the pilot, Capt. Jeff Haney.I believe that they want to recover the wreckage.
Probably already had 50 Russians sneak over from Big Diomede island on snowmobiles.
You are correct.
In the link, go to the “missing pilot update” and see the crater. It looks like a totally vertical impact, at extremely high speed. Sad...
With ‘highs’ now hovering at 0 or below, what parts were not recovered are there till Spring. Frozen solid.
Throw in a couple of feet of new snow, and you can see where the investigators will have to get by with what they have on hand.
The memorial service for the pilot was closed to the ‘public’ at the families request = “News Buzzards” not allowed in ... I totally support that more, good call.
I'm wondering if thats perma-frost there. Looks like a 50 cal bullet hitting a 24 inch thick block of ice.
Ping
To have an aircraft vertically impact like that, you'd think the pilot must have blacked out in a high g turn and gone straight in with full after-burner or something. Wonder if the flight recorders survived THAT.
I can’t imagine much of anything in there not being pulverized.
The young pilot was an American warrior and is a hero. I am sorry I ever had a doubt or concern otherwise.
Now, if we can keep our politicians from betraying us to the communist bastards and other dictators, then we can resecure our national defenses.
Truly sad. RIP.
The hi-res pic shows the wing impact marks (10:30 & 3:30)
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