An F-22 Raptor crashed in Alaska on November 16. The search an rescue crews think they found the wreckage yesterday, but there’s no sign of the pilot. According to the USAF’s Colonel Jack McMullen, he may have a chance at survival:
They have survival gear. He’s Arctic trained to survive in that environment. He’s got the gear on. He’s got stuff in his survival kit, so that he could hunker himself down and fight the extreme cold.
The weather in Alaska is really bad at this moment, but the search for the pilot is active.
The F-22 belonged to the the 3rd Wing at Elmendor Air Force Base, Alaska. The plane finished its training run with another F-22 one hundred miles north of the base. At 7:40pm, F-22 fell of the radar, losing communication. According to McMullen:
The other pilot (Rocky One) went to a tanker, got gas and then continued to look for the mishap pilot. He could not find him. At that time, the Alaska Air National Guard scrambled a C-130 and rescue helicopters. They searched the entire night.
They have now found the $143-million fighter wreckage, but the pilot (Rocky Three) is nowhere to be found. Hopefully, they will locate and rescue him soon. [Associated Press—Photo by U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Garrett Hothan]
