IG Blasts Air Force's F-22 Crash Report as Sloppy

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February 13, 2013

The Air Force’s investigation into the fatal 2010 crash of an F-22 fighter jet was sloppy and their conclusions were “not supported by the facts,” according to a new report by the Department of Defense Inspector General.

The Air Force concluded that the crash was the fault of human errors by pilot Capt. Jeff Haney, who was thought to have been suffering from a lack of oxygen at the time of the crash. The state-of-the-art F-22 has had a series of severe oxygen problems and other technical difficulties.

From an article by The Center for Public Integrity:

[Deputy Inspector General Randolph R. Stone] wrote that the Air Force’s conclusions were “not supported by the facts” presented and didn’t exhaust all investigative leads. He said the three human factors cited by the board were “separate, distinct and conflicting,” and concluded that the Air Force did not explain how they all could have worked together to cause the crash.

The report’s errors and omissions called into question the Air Force board’s conclusions, Stone and his colleagues said. The Air Force, in its response, conceded its account of the accident “could have been more clearly written,” but insisted that findings were supported by clear and convincing evidence and that the board had exhausted all available investigative leads.

Get more information about the crash and the subsequent investigations in the CPI article.

Image: Flickr user space_monkey.

Topics: National Security

Related Content: Defense, DOD Oversight, F/A-22 Fighter Aircraft

Authors: Andre Francisco

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