UPDATE-Lawsuit goes after makers of F-22 over faulty pilot life support system

The long-term pilot environmental control problems with the F-22 have come to a critical point.

The USAF previously stated in a aircraft mishap report that the cause of the loss of an F-22 in 2010 was due to error by the pilot who died in the crash.

Recently, that decision was reversed. The mishap was not a result of pilot error.

Boom. Lawsuit.

This was to be expected. And with a documented trail of affected pilots due to contaminated breathing air while operating the F-22, what is left is a feast for lawyers.

This is the cost of a poorly managed program which just could never figure out how to stop the problem. Just a few weeks ago, F-22 flying was halted in Alaska as the result of pilot life support issues.

Follow this lawsuit. It is important. It should be able to uncover poor management and oversight of a costly weapons system.

The price of de-skilling--at least in this case--is that the lawyers will catch up.

I hope they have success in protecting pilots, where the USAF and industry failed.

H/T- Alert 5

**UPDATE**

In a statement, Lockheed expressed sympathy for Haney's family, but said it didn't agree with the allegations.

"The loss of the pilot and aircraft in November 2010 was a tragic event and we sympathize with the family for their loss," Lockheed says. "We are aware that a complaint that makes a variety of claims associated with the accident has been filed with the court in Cook County. We do not agree with those allegations and we will respond to them through the appropriate legal process."

Boeing officials say they cannot comment on pending litigation. Pratt and Whitney say that it has not yet received any notice of pending legal actions and that it is "inappropriate" to comment until it receives notification.

Honeywell, meanwhile, says its product is not responsible.

"The US Air Force conducted a thorough aircraft accident investigation regarding the F-22A crash near Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska in accordance with standard flight safety procedures," Honeywell says. "The report concluded that Honeywell's on-board oxygen generation system was not the cause of the November 2010 F-22 crash."

Last year, a USAF accident investigation board held Haney responsible for the crash because he failed to activate the emergency oxygen system when his F-22's oxygen system was automatically shutdown due a still-unexplained malfunction of the jets bleed air system.

Accident board president Brig Gen James Browne states in that report: "I find the cause of the mishap was the [mishap pilot's] failure to recognise and initiate a timely dive recovery due to channelised attention, breakdown of visual scan and unrecognised spatial disorientation."

Later on 6 March, USAF chief of staff General Norton Schwartz seemed to backtrack.

"We did not assign blame to the pilot," Schwartz told the US Congress on 6 March. He acknowledged that the aircraft's bleed air intakes - from which the jet's oxygen is derived - had shut down, depriving Haney of oxygen, and that this was a contributing factor.