Posted on 11/17/2010 8:59:29 AM PST by AnnaZ
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Search and rescue teams are looking for a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor and its pilot that went missing during a flight over Alaska late Tuesday, military officials told NBC News.
The officials said the advanced stealth fighter jet was about 90 miles northeast of Elmendorf Air Force Base when it "dropped off the radar."
There was no mayday or any other communication from the pilot that would have indicated the plane was in trouble, the officials told NBC News. There have been no distress calls from the pilot since the plane went missing.
U.S. military helicopters and at least one C-130 have so far failed to turn up any sign of the missing fighter jet, according to NBC News.
Base spokeswoman Corinna Jones told The Associated Press Tuesday night that the pilot was the only person in the craft, which was on a training mission. Air traffic control lost contact with the jet at 7:40 p.m. Alaska time, she added.
Jones declined to identify the pilot, but noted the aircraft is assigned to Elmendorf's 3rd Wing.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
I was waiting for the reference. Can't believe it took 18 posts. =)
But on a more serious note, like I said, it's either a sad story or an odd one. Prayers for the pilot, unless he's already in the Caymans.
“Ding Ding Ding! We may have a winner. Billion is alot of 0s!”
I proposed the theory, but I personally doubt it.
IMHO, as a former fighter pilot, he got a “blue screen of death” and while he was cussing Bill Gates, the airplane, which is aerodynamically unstable without its computers, immediately disentegrated in a complete catostrophic manuever.
“Or is their some Biometric system that is classifed to prevent this?”
Yeah, its called a ground chief with eyeballs, Mark 1 and 2.
You might be able to fake being some random old man, but you could never pull off being a given person that is well-known.
Wasn't it designed to do just that?
Dark at the time....training mission...probably near Denali wilderness and in mountainous territory...maybe poor wx. Flew it into the side of a mountain?
That's a little odd don't ya think.
The plane may have suddenly "dropped" from ATC radar due to being shadowed by a mountain or becoming part of a mountain. Then again, how was ATC radar able to track the $200 million stealth fighter?
For those thinking about a "Dash to Cash" in Western Siberia, the plane would have needed to fly another ~800 miles.
Well, not so odd after reading prisoner6's comment above yours.
Those planes are so ridiculously fast... I never thought of mountains... *shudder*
ATC would have it via IFF transponder, not a skin paint. Which is why when the transponder went off, it dropped off the operator’s screen.
I suspect a rock filled cloud may have been the end for that flight. RIP, Raptor pilot.
Eureka! Another one has finally seen the light.
“Perhaps he was offered a billion to fly it to Siberia”
One of my thoughts...
Switch on the stealth stuff and fly to the buyers.
Through it's transponder.
I was just thinking that. If it’s a stealth plane, what was it doing ON the radar?
It has a range of greater thant 1,600 nautical miles(1,840 mi, 2,960 km) with 2 external fuel tanks.
I highly doubt it was carrying this much fuel for a training mission...
Quite a few WWII era wreckage sites all over Alaska too. Mountains & bad weather; deadly mix at times.
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