Stealth fighter crashes during takeoff at Nellis

Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2004 | 11:07 a.m.

An F/A-22 Raptor stealth fighter crashed on a runway at Nellis Air Force Base on Monday afternoon, the first reported loss of one of the aircraft, which cost more than $130 million each.

The pilot ejected from the plane seconds before it slammed the ground during a takeoff about 3:45 p.m., officials said. The pilot, who was taken to O'Callaghan Federal Hospital, was released from the hospital after being treated for minor injuries, Nellis officials said.

The crash has temporarily shut down Nellis' two runways, while investigators look through the wreckage, and has caused the Air Force to suspend flying of the Raptor at major bases including Nellis and Tyndal Air Force Base in Florida.

An interim safety board of officers is investigating the accident, and were meeting with the pilot this morning, Nellis spokesman Mike Estrada said.

The pilot's name has not been released, and may not be due to a new military regulation that requires the permission of a pilot involved in a crash in order to release his or her name, Estrada said.

Witnesses driving by Nellis Monday afternoon said they saw the Raptor split into two pieces above the runway shortly after the aircraft lifted off. One man, who declined to give his name, said flames shot out of the sides of the Raptor before it crashed.

A plume of thick, black smoke covered the northern end of the Las Vegas Valley as Air Force firefighters doused the flaming aircraft for a couple of hours.

An Air Force water tanker truck took a corner too fast getting out to the crash and rolled. The accident caused only minior injuries to Nellis firefighters.

Four F-16s assigned to the Nellis-based Thunderbirds were forced to land at McCarran International Airport Monday evening due to the crash of the Raptor. Estrada said he expected the Thunderbirds to return to Nellis later today.

The F/A-22 is the Air Force's new fighter attack aircraft designed to replace the F-15C, first fielded in 1979. The Raptor first arrived at Nellis in January 2003, and now there are seven of the aircraft at the base after Monday's crash.

Each Raptor costs about $133 million, but that price can fluctuate depending on how many of the jets are purchased from the manufacturer at one time, Estrada said.

The Air Force wants to purchase about 300 F/A-22 Raptors -- which feature stealth capabilities, or the ability to travel at supersonic speeds without fuel-guzzling afterburners -- and the ability to attack from greater distances and at higher altitudes.

Critics of the F/A-22 have said it isn't needed, noting the lack of enemy fighter aircraft for F-15s to engage during conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

At a congressional hearing in March, Air Force officials said that the Raptor program faced some challenges that required additional flight tests.

The Raptor, designed and built by Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Pratt and Whitney, is being run through its paces by seven pilots of the Nellis 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron.

By 2008, 17 Raptors are expected to be stationed at Nellis. At that time the base's weapon school will begin operating the equivalent of PhD-level instructor training in the fighter.

In the past year, there have been at least three crashes at the Nevada Test and Training Range operated by Nellis. In one of the accidents, the pilot and passengers did not survive.

A single-seat Navy F-18 went down Nov. 9, about 15 miles north of the base. The pilot of that aircraft ejected safely.

In June an F-15 fighter jet went down. The pilot ejected safely and was treated for minor injuries on the base.

In March an Air Force Beechcraft went down at the training range, killing four contractors and a civilian pilot.