Military Finds Wreckage of Air Force Fighter Jet in Alaska

Published November 17, 2010

AP/ U.S. Air Force

This 2007 image shows two U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor aircraft during a training mission. The wreckage from a missing F-22 Raptor has been found in Alaska near Denali National Park.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The military says the wreckage from a missing F-22 Raptor has been found in Alaska near Denali National Park.

An Air Force pilot was on a routine training mission with the F-22 Raptor when he lost contact with air traffic control at 7:40 p.m. Tuesday Alaska time.

The Alaska Air National Guard Rescue Coordination Center has dispatched a rescue team to the area, approximately 100 miles north of Anchorage, to continue searching for the missing pilot.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of this missing Airman, and we thank all Alaskans for their continued support and prayers during this trying time," said Col. Jack McMullen, 3rd Wing commander. "Finding the missing pilot is our top priority."

The pilot and his $143 million aircraft were assigned to the 3rd Wing at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, just north of Anchorage. The name of the pilot is being withheld until the pilot's status is determined.

The F-22 is the military's newest and most technologically advanced fighter. It's a one-man, stealth supercruiser designed for air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. The Air Force has 137 of them in its fleet, each valued at approximately $143 million.

The F-22 entered service in the mid-2000s and arrived at Elmendorf in August 2007. It can cruise at more than 1 1/2 times the speed of sound without using its afterburner. Its top speed is confidential.

Congress last year stopped production of the plane, built by Lockheed Martin Corp., by eliminating $1.75 billion that would have added seven F-22s to the Air Force's fleet.

An F-22 crashed in March 2009 near Edwards Air Force Base in California, killing the pilot. In July, a C-17 cargo jet from the 3rd Wing at Elmendorf crashed during a training demonstration for an air show, killing all four crewmen aboard.






Canadian F18 and Orion P3 Pilots first reported the use of exotic energy weapons being fielded by the Chinese while tracking Chinese submarines 400 km off the west coast of the Queen Charlotte Islands. In 2009 Canadian Navy ships tracked Chinese submarine activity within 28km of the BC coast and heavy Chinese commercial fishing operations which most certainly were performing electronic surveillance and jamming. Unmarked military grade electronic equipment has been found on Brooks Peninsula and Estevan Point on Vancouver Island, where in previous years 13 Chinese refugee boats had illegally landed. In 2007 a Colonel for the Canadian Land Forces Pacific Command was fired for claiming that China was conducting covert operations on the west coast from the Aleutian Islands down as far as Vancouver Island. http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20070430/csis_china_070430/
http://redtape.msnbc.com/2010/11/china-web-hijacking-shows-net-at-risk.html