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The Airforce missed now a Raptor. Here the link from AF.mil

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123141390

Another article.

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. —

An F-22 Raptor jet fighter crashed Wednesday in the high desert of Southern California.

The jet crashed six miles north of the base on Harbor Dry Lakebed, said Air Force Maj. David Small at the Pentagon.

Rescue crews were en route to the site and the status of the pilot was unknown, he said.

Small said the jet, assigned to Edwards' 412th Test Wing, was on a test mission but he did not know its nature.

Call to the base public affairs phone numbers were answered by recording machines.

The F-22 is the Air Force's new top-of-the-line fighter. Each of the radar-evading stealthy jets costs $140 million.

The $65 billion F-22 program is embattled, with some opponents contending that a different warplane under development, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, is more versatile and less costly at $80 million per plane.

The U.S. is committed to 183 F-22, down from the original plan laid out in the 1980s to build 750.

Its prime contractor, Lockheed Martin Corp., says there are 95,000 jobs connected to the F-22.

The F-22 is able to fly at supersonic speeds without using afterburners. That allows it to reach and stay in a battlespace faster and longer without being easily detected.

The two-engine fighter is 62 feet long, has a wingspan of 44 1/2 feet and is flown by a single pilot.

AP, Wednesday, March 25, 2009

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Well now we're down to 181.

I wonder if it was still under warranty?

The crash cost the life of the pilot

F-22A crash claims life of Edwards pilot

An F-22 Raptor, like the one shown in this file photo, crashed north of Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., March 25 claiming the life of it's test pilot, David Cooley. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Rachel A. Kocin)

3/25/2009 - EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFNS) -- An Air Force F-22A crash March 25 near here claimed the life of an Air Force veteran and Lockheed Martin test pilot.

David Cooley, 49, of Palmdale, Calif., died when the F-22A he was piloting crashed northeast of the base here. Mr. Cooley worked as a test pilot with Lockheed Martin, and was employed at the 411th Flight Test Squadron, 412th Test Wing, on Edwards.

Mr. Cooley joined Lockheed Martin in 2003 and was a 21-year veteran of the Air Force. He worked at the F-22 Combined Test Force, where a team of Lockheed Martin and Air Force pilots conduct F-22 aircraft testing.

\"This is a very difficult day for Edwards and those who knew and respected Dave as a warrior, test pilot and friend,\" said Maj. Gen. David Eichhorn, Air Force Flight Test Center commander. \"Our thoughts and prayers are with Dave and his family as we struggle through, and do all we can to support them.\"

Edwards officials said they were notified around 10 a.m. that the F-22A had gone down 35 miles northeast of the base. First responders transported Mr. Cooley from the crash scene to Victor Valley Community Hospital in Victorville, Calif., where he was pronounced dead.

A board of officers is investigating the accident through an Accident Investigation Board, whose findings will be released to the public upon completion

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The pilot didn't make it out. The pilot was David Cooley, 49, a 21-year Air Force veteran who joined Lockheed Martin in 2003, the company said in a statement. It did not release any details of the accident, including whether Cooley attempted to eject.



OC

Dave And I were Good Friends. I flew with Dave for 5 years before I left the service. I had been the one that Sparked the bug for him to go the TPS route. He was a Competent and respected pilot.

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\"A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week. \"

George S. Patton

Sorry for your loss, too, Thug.

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\"Those who hammer their guns into plows
will plow for those who do not.\"
- Thomas Jefferson

Sad day for all.

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Slow is Fast, Fast is Slow
Violence may not be the best option, but it IS an option