U.S. Air Force (USAF) since last week banned flying back tens of sophisticated fighter aircraft F-22 Raptor for the second time this year. The decision was taken after re-occurring disruption of oxygen supply to pilot aircraft worth 150 million U.S. dollars (USD 1.3 trillion) per unit.
USAF spokesman, Lt. Col. Richard Johnson, Monday (24/10/2011), said the fleet of F-22 at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia and Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska ordered not to fly first as a precautionary measure.
The decision was taken after last week's pilot of an Air Force Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia suffering from symptoms of "a kind of hipoxia" or lack of oxygen when flying one of the F-22.
The ban comes just a month after officials allowed the USAF F-22 fleet to fly again. Previously, aircraft were banned from flying in the period from May to September because of a problem with the oxygen supply system for pilots.
The decision to allow the F-22 flying in mid-September it was not accompanied by a detailed explanation of the results of investigation of the matter.
Observers suspect that the exact cause of this oxygen supply problem until now has not been found despite numerous tests and preventive measures have been carried out.
Johnson said the protocol in the USAF allow any entity to stop the operation at any time they find a problem in flight.
"It is part of our protocol to allow any entity to stop operations if they feel the need to analyze information gathered from a variety of flight operations to ensure safety. It was conducted at Langley today, and we support that decision," said Johnson in an email to Agence France Presse (AFP).
Langley Air Force Base operates about 30 F-22, while the Base Elmendorf-Richardson operates two squadrons of the most advanced and most expensive fighter in the world.
According to a senior officer at Elmendorf-Richardson, a ban on flying the planes F-22 at a base in Alaska that have been revoked on Monday, having been in effect since last Thursday.
F-22 is a fighter aircraft designed to perform air combat missions (dog fight) with enemy fighters. The aircraft is equipped with technology to avoid radar detection opponent (stealth / stealth). USAF currently has 160 units of Raptor and plans to increase this number to 187 units.
USAF spokesman, Lt. Col. Richard Johnson, Monday (24/10/2011), said the fleet of F-22 at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia and Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska ordered not to fly first as a precautionary measure.
The decision was taken after last week's pilot of an Air Force Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia suffering from symptoms of "a kind of hipoxia" or lack of oxygen when flying one of the F-22.
The ban comes just a month after officials allowed the USAF F-22 fleet to fly again. Previously, aircraft were banned from flying in the period from May to September because of a problem with the oxygen supply system for pilots.
The decision to allow the F-22 flying in mid-September it was not accompanied by a detailed explanation of the results of investigation of the matter.
Observers suspect that the exact cause of this oxygen supply problem until now has not been found despite numerous tests and preventive measures have been carried out.
Johnson said the protocol in the USAF allow any entity to stop the operation at any time they find a problem in flight.
"It is part of our protocol to allow any entity to stop operations if they feel the need to analyze information gathered from a variety of flight operations to ensure safety. It was conducted at Langley today, and we support that decision," said Johnson in an email to Agence France Presse (AFP).
Langley Air Force Base operates about 30 F-22, while the Base Elmendorf-Richardson operates two squadrons of the most advanced and most expensive fighter in the world.
According to a senior officer at Elmendorf-Richardson, a ban on flying the planes F-22 at a base in Alaska that have been revoked on Monday, having been in effect since last Thursday.
F-22 is a fighter aircraft designed to perform air combat missions (dog fight) with enemy fighters. The aircraft is equipped with technology to avoid radar detection opponent (stealth / stealth). USAF currently has 160 units of Raptor and plans to increase this number to 187 units.
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