Second F-22 raptor Incidents Within a Week

Second U.S. Air Force Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptors experienced problems occurring just a week apart from one another.

The first one was on  April 6th, 2018, when an F-22 Raptor of the Alaska-based 3rd Wing, flying out of Tyndall Air Force Base, experienced an engine failure but the fighter landed safely.

A week later, during 2nd incident another Raptor from the same squadron experienced a mishap during landing, damaging the belly of the aircraft.

According to 2nd Lt. Brigitte Brantley, a public affairs officer for the 673rd Air Base Wing “We can confirm that a 3 WG F-22, assigned to the 90th Fighter Squadron, recently experienced an in-flight engine failure while operating out of Tyndall. The aircraft was able to land safely,”. The pilot was unhurt in the incident.

The incident occurred one week before an even more serious incident, in which a Raptor experienced engine problems during takeoff. The plane, which had already retracted its landing gear, bounced back to the runway and reportedly skidded for more than a mile before coming to a stop.

In a statement to Popular Mechanics, the Air Force said, “On Friday, 13 April 2018, an F-22 from the 90th Fighter Squadron in the 3rd Wing at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) skidded to a stop on the runway of (Naval Air Station) Fallon in Nevada, shortly after takeoff. The pilot egressed the aircraft safely. The aircraft was at NAS Fallon to participate in a training exercise with the U.S. Navy.”

“We can confirm that the aircraft was later hoisted into a position where the landing gear could be extended and locked. The aircraft was then towed to a position where damage and repairs can be evaluated. “