Raptor Lost in Alaska

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http://www.jber.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123231162

F-22 aircraft overdue in reporting

11/17/2010 - JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON --

An Air Force F-22 assigned to the 3rd Wing at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, lost contact with air traffic control at 7:40 p.m. Alaska time today while on a routine training mission.

A search is underway.

More information will be released as it becomes available.
 
...An Alaska-based Air Force F-22 that went missing on a training mission is "believed to be crashed," a Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday. Col. Dave Lapan did not immediately give other details about the situation...
 
F-22 aircraft crash site found

...a rescue team is being dispatched to the area, approximately 100 miles north of Anchorage, by the Alaska Air National Guard Rescue Coordination Center, the 3rd Wing and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson....

http://www.jber.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123231357
 
Very sorry to all concerened if the pilot has been involved with an accident or some kind of failure that caused a crash. If this is the case God Speed to the rescue team...

The first thing I thought of when I heard of this was An F22 on the deck flying to Russia ala 'Jet Pilot'.
 
Before SAR finds a pilot, I consider all these theories are loss of respect to honour of him. We had the same theorists about 'Belenko scenario' for China between 'eggsperts' from Russian press last year when Su-27 crashed at Far East - before Col Sobolev's body was ever found. Their behaviour did smell bad. Nothing personal. It just not appropriate time now for such thoughts.
 
http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2010/11/missing_f-22_pilot_is_capt_jef.html

F-22 pilot who has been missing for days after plane crash in Alaska identified as Capt. Jeff Haney, formerly of Jackson County
Published: Thursday, November 18, 2010, 1:19 PM
Updated: Thursday, November 18, 2010, 1:59 PM

Danielle Salisbury | Jackson Citizen Patriot

The missing pilot of an Air Force F-22 fighter jet that crashed this week in a remote area of interior Alaska is Air Force Capt. Jeff A. Haney, whose parents live in Jackson County, the man Haney calls his stepdad confirmed today.
Mike Viane, who has lived with Haney's mother for more than 20 years, said Haney's mother, Linda, and father are now on a plane to Alaska, where they will join Haney's wife, Anna, and the couple's two young daughters.
The two left this morning and are to arrive before midnight tonight, he said from he and Linda Haney's home on Gillette Road west of Brooklyn.
Haney, 31, has been in the Air Force for about five years, Viane said. He graduated from Columbia Central High School in 1996 and went to flight school at Western Michigan University.
He did his first pilot training at the Jackson County Airport, Viane said.
Haney was one of the Air Force's best piolts, Viane said. "Top of the class, as they say."
He was supposed to eventually be an F-22 fighter jet instructor, Viane said.
Haney was stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. His wife and children lived off the base, Viane said.
Haney's Air Force F-22 Raptor went missing Tuesday night during a training mission from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. The fighter jet’s wreckage was discovered Wednesday.

The jet was on a nighttime training mission and lost contact with air traffic control at 7:40 p.m. local time Tuesday, according to a statement by the base. The F-22 was flying with another plane, which also lost contact with it, according to the Air National Guard.

The missing F-22 is assigned to Elmendorf’s 3rd Wing.

“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, in a written statement. “Finding the missing pilot is our top priority.”

Jeff Haney is shown in this 1999 file photo.
 

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Anchorage Daily News
18 November 2010

Crash area searched for missing F-22 pilot

By CASEY GROVE

(11/18/10 14:41:50)
Dozens of Army and Air Force personnel and vehicles were heading into the Alaska wilderness 100 miles north of Anchorage today to search for the missing pilot from an F-22 Raptor that crashed Tuesday night.

The stealth fighter jet vanished from radar and lost contact with its wingman at about 7:40 p.m. Tuesday. After spotting wreckage Wednesday morning, pararescuemen with the Alaska Air National Guard landed at the crash site.

There was no indication whether the pilot ejected, a military spokesman said. Searchers found no sign of the pilot at the crash site.

"They said it looked like a crater," said Maj. Guy Hayes with the Guard's Rescue Coordination Center. "There was a stream nearby that was creating a lot of water in the crash site."

The pilot was identified as Capt. Jeffrey Haney by the Jackson Citizen Patriot, his mother's hometown newspaper in Michigan. The Air Force would not name the pilot until they found him, spokesmen said. Haney has a wife and two daughters, according to the Citizen Patriot. A records search shows the family lives in Eagle River.

After spending Tuesday night scanning the mountainous area southeast of Cantwell, searchers resumed Wednesday and spotted what looked like the crash site south of the Denali Highway. The crater is in a drainage between two mountains and had partially filled with water, Hayes said.

First they had to get the right gear for hazardous materials from the crashed plane, Hayes said. It's normal to expect fuel and other hazardous material at a plane crash, he said. The searchers were on the ground at the site from 1 or 2 p.m. until dark, Hayes said.

Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson spokesman John Pennell said the plane was not carrying explosives but did have flares and chaff onboard, as well as training rounds.

Air Force, Army and Rescue Coordination Center personnel are helping with the "huge logistical operation" of a ground search for the pilot, Pennell said. The state Department of Transportation is plowing a road in the area -- likely the Denali Highway, which is not maintained during the winter -- to help get equipment to the area as the search moves into a more long-term phase, Pennell said. A convoy of Army and Air Force vehicles was on its way to the area, he said.

The search teams would use helicopters, small tracked vehicles and four-wheel-drive sport utility vehicles to shuttle searchers into the wilderness from a base camp they were setting up Thursday afternoon off of the Denali Highway, a 134-mile mostly gravel road that runs east from near the entrance to Denali National Park and Preserve to Paxson on the Richardson Highway. Wrecker vehicles, forklifts and a bus loaded with people were also en route, Pennell said.

"You're talking hundreds of moving parts, including people. Getting the right people with the right equipment to the right place at the right time," Pennell said. "The logistics are really pretty staggering. You know what Alaska's like. The area's remote, it's rugged, and it's pretty inaccessible."

Alaska Air National Guard helicopters and a four-engine plane continued to search for signs of a fire or the pilot's parachute, Maj. Hayes said.

"We just don't know at all whether or not he ejected or if he's still with the aircraft, so that's why we continue to do the search operations until we find that answer," Hayes said. "We're going to proceed in thinking he's alive until we have a strong reason to believe he might not be."

Temperatures dipped below zero both Tuesday and Wednesday nights, according to the National Weather Service. The pilot would have had survival gear and expert training, said Col. Jack McMullen, commander of the Air Force's 3rd Wing. McMullen and much of the local Air Force community were holding out hope that the pilot would be found alive, he said.

"We have to assume that he's still alive until we find conclusively otherwise," Pennell said. "We're not going to give up on him. As long as there's hope, we're going to continue looking."

There has been an outpouring of support for the pilot's family, Pennell said.

"In a situation like this, the military family pulls together, so they are fully ensconced in support right now," he said.
 
wow - a truly massive undertaking...

"...a convoy left today to deliver approximately the same amount of supplies four C-17 Globemaster loads would be able to carry to the supply site..."

Alaska’s joint forces continue coordinations in search of F-22 Raptor pilot

http://www.jber.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123231571
 
...and we have MiG-31 crashed today at Perm region...crew alive
 
http://www.lifesupportintl.com/products/Survivor_Locator_Beacon_ProFIND_SLB_2000_100-3481-122.html

In the ACES and Martin-Baker ejection seat scenerios, the SLB-2000-100 is packed in the survival kie in the seat pan. When a pilot ejects at altitude, the pilot remains in the seat until his altitude drops below 10,000 feet. At this time the seat separates, the parachute is deployed, and the survival pack drops below the pilot. When the lide separates from the seat pan, the SLB-2000-100 is automatically activated.
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Abraham Gubler said:
InvisibleDefender said:
wow - a truly massive undertaking...
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4 x C-17As = 16-24 heavy trucks. So not so massive.
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Driving down some highway within CONUS, I'd agree - but up in the wilderness of Alaska? Without paved roads - in a snowstorm ... Yes - MASSIVE.

This is roughly the crash area - http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Elmendorf+AFB+(EDF)&daddr=AK-8+E%2FDenali+Hwy&geocode=FcClpgMdpFMS9ylHpGJJ6JXIVjHpf-J8yci4Mw%3BFT9hwwMdmb009w&hl=en&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=9&sll=63.166756,-147.183838&sspn=1.114602,4.221497&ie=UTF8&t=p&z=9


From today's Anchorage Times:
Two military convoys heading north from Anchorage with troops and equipment and planning to scour some of Alaska's most rugged wilderness for signs of a lost F-22 pilot ran into driving snow, slowing them enough that the searchers had to hunker down in Cantwell for the night.
The group hoped to set up a base camp Friday at a closed wilderness lodge about 60 miles east of Cantwell on the Denali Highway before starting a ground search for the pilot, who may have ejected from the stealth fighter jet that crashed Tuesday night during a routine training flight, a spokesman for Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson said.
Dozens of Army and Air Force personnel and vehicles will be involved in what base spokesman John Pennell called a "huge logistical operation," with hundreds more men and women supporting the ground and air search for the missing pilot.
 
:( www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123231773
 
This tragedy is extremely mysterious to me. I just don't understand how such an advanced aircraft could just crash without a peep from its pilot during whatever his emergency was. Whatever the event, it must have been a catastrophic one. -SP
 
Pilot could've had a stroke, an aneurism, etc. These guys get regular flight physicals, but they don't see the doc before every single flight like Blackbird or U-2 pilots did. Alternatively, the more advanced the aircraft, the more catastrophic any screw-up can become. Gonna take some time to figure this one out, that's for sure.
 
Hell, I just found out what killed the pilot of the Raptor crash at Edwards at AvWeek. I can't believe they were even flying those maneuvers. Why the hell would you fly a M-1.6 split-S repeatedly at low altitude, relatively speaking (mid 20k's), to test how the AIM-9 separates under those conditions? The pilot experienced A-LOC, which stands for Almost G-Loc. He was at 14kft and M=1.4 or so when he punched out. It was the ejection that killed him. But I can't help thinking it was the test program that actually killed him. Pulling such high G-Loads repeatedly doesn't work out well and we've known that for some time.

Don't get me wrong, I understand why they test the maneuver multiple times, but to have one pilot fly that extreme of a maneuver over and over again in one mission seems kind of stupid to me.

But it seems this recent crash didn't have to do with maneuvering, because weren't they tanking up or otw to do so? I agree with many here that it seems the pilot may have become incapacitated. It's a real shame. I remember reading an article, I think it was in Flight Journal, about an F-100 pilot whose aorta tore from his heart and he bled to death internally in bed. He had been involved in a depressurization event at 25000 ft or so in a two seat F-100. But they figured his heart had been contracting when it happened while the other crew members was expanding when it depressurized and the the guy whose heart was contracting at the time had more stress with the loss of pressure and caused a tear where the aorta attaches to the heart, whereas the other guy was fine. It just goes to show what a punishing environment fighter pilots actually operate in and how any flaw or human frailty can be amplified by those conditions.

Whatever the case, it's certainly sad for his family. My condolences to them. Also to his squadron and wingman. To be flying along one second in contact and the next second he's just gone has to be a shock.
 
i read that he was doing a 9 G's maneuver that he got G-loc then when he recovered his plane was diving mach 1.6, and that then he ejected at mach 1.4 which killed him.


In any case, recent rafale crash was attributed to spatial disorientation and i wonder if the higher rates of those new planes have something to do with those crashes.
 
Same thing happened to an Eagle some years ago. Pilot recovered doing Mach 2 headed down IIRC and the ejection killed him.
 
I seem to remember that lethal 9G maneuvers is partly what killed the F-20 Tigershark...
 
Stargazer2006 said:
I seem to remember that lethal 9G maneuvers is partly what killed the F-20 Tigershark...
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I vagly (spelling ?) remember the F-20 9G manuever fiasco. When I first heard of the ATF program back in 1985 there was talk of 12G manuevering capability and 12G flight suits to be developed to handle such maneuvers. In any event I'm not convinced that G-lock was involved. -SP
 
Let's wait for AIB preliminary report...
 
XB-70 Guy said:
Stargazer2006 said:
I seem to remember that lethal 9G maneuvers is partly what killed the F-20 Tigershark...
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I vagly (spelling ?) remember the F-20 9G manuever fiasco. When I first heard of the ATF program back in 1985 there was talk of 12G manuevering capability and 12G flight suits to be developed to handle such maneuvers. In any event I'm not convinced that G-lock was involved. -SP
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It wasn't really a fiasco. There was not that much familiarity with G-LOC in those days, it was a relatively new phenomena, because before the F-14 and the other "teen" fighters, aircraft simply couldn't repeatedly reach those g levels in normal flight. In the case of the F-20, there was a plane that could easily fly many missions in one day. In fact I believe in one of the crashes (both F-20 losses were to G-LOC), the loss occurred on the sixth rehearsal of the high-g demonstration routine that day. They simply didn't know yet what that does to the pilot. This video of the 1984 crash:
http://www.apacheclips.com/media/19730/Northrop_F-20_Tigershark_Crash_1984/
shows the classic signs of G-LOC; no control input at all, the pilot isn't even responding to the situation.

G-LOC was one of the reasons the Navy restricted the F-14 and F/A-18 to 7.5g. There wasn't much benefit to sustained turning beyond that relative to the wear on the aircraft and potential incapacity of the flight crew for a few critical seconds.

Early on in the ATF program there was a lot of silly talk, not just 12g maneuvering, before reality set in. There were also predictions that Air Force pilots would sit for an hour or more before the flight staring at special vision targets to enhance their vision.
 
F-14D said:
Early on in the ATF program there was a lot of silly talk, not just 12g maneuvering before reality set in. There were also predictions that Air Force pilots would sit for an hour or more before the flight staring at special vision targets to enhance their vision.
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IIRC, didn't the YF-22 test an automatic reclining seat that wasn't very successful?
 
Sundog said:
Hell, I just found out what killed the pilot of the Raptor crash at Edwards at AvWeek. I can't believe they were even flying those maneuvers. Why the hell would you fly a M-1.6 split-S repeatedly at low altitude, relatively speaking (mid 20k's), to test how the AIM-9 separates under those conditions? The pilot experienced A-LOC, which stands for Almost G-Loc. He was at 14kft and M=1.4 or so when he punched out. It was the ejection that killed him. But I can't help thinking it was the test program that actually killed him. Pulling such high G-Loads repeatedly doesn't work out well and we've known that for some time.

Don't get me wrong, I understand why they test the maneuver multiple times, but to have one pilot fly that extreme of a maneuver over and over again in one mission seems kind of stupid to me.
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Sundog,

Careful with what you're concluding. If you haven't read the safety report, or AIB report don't be to quick to judge. FWIW the safety report is privileged and not publically releasable. As a person who's read the SIB, and won't discuss the content publically, there was a good reason they were doing what they were. There's a lot more to this than what's in your post. I usually won't comment on these things but I used to be in the community and know enough people who knew Cools.
 
If the Air Force is truly after 12G maneuvers, it's no wonder they are interested in the concept of UCAV fighters. When there's no pilot, you can push the aircraft to the extremes without fear.
 
F-22A block 30
no. 06-4125
Delivered August 13th, 2008.

USAF photos by SrA. Jonathan Steffen
 

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Officials suspend F-22 crash recovery and restoration

12/1/2010 - JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska (AFNS) -- After two weeks of intense effort, a joint Air Force and Army team has suspended recovery and restoration efforts for the F-22 Raptor that crashed Nov. 16 near Cantwell, Alaska.

An Air Force team did recover the remains of the pilot, Capt. Jeff Haney. Safety experts are now examining the wreckage as they seek to determine the cause of the accident.

Air Force officials say much as been done to clean up the crash site but caution some risks remain. Any debris discovered by snowmachiners or others in the area should not be handled, said Air Force Col. (Dr.) Paul Friedrichs, the JBER medical group commander.

"Modern composite aircraft, including the F-22, use materials that can present health risks if they are mishandled," Dr. Friedrichs said.

Air Force officials established a call center at (907) 552-9321 for anyone who finds debris that may be part of the aircraft so trained technicians can recover the material safely and minimize any long-term impact to the environment. Visible pieces of the wreckage have been removed from the site.

"The health risks become significant if you don't have the proper equipment and are cutting or grinding pieces of the airplane," Dr. Friedrichs said.

Although the risk of medical problems is low if someone picks up a part of the plane and immediately places it down, Air Force officials strongly encourage anyone who believes they may have found a piece of the plane not to handle it, due to risk of skin irritation or rash from the materials used to build the plane.

"When our technicians work with these materials, they wear eye protection, respirators and thick, industrial gloves," said Master Sgt. Monty Wood, an F-22 maintenance supervisor.

Air Force officials also are concerned winter snow and runoff could expose other aircraft parts that may be hazardous. Sergeant Wood explained many aircraft parts contain highly pressurized gasses or flammable components that could be dangerous if disturbed.

Col. Jack McMullen, the 3rd Wing commander, praised the support the Air Force has received from state and local officials and Alaskans who live in the vicinity of the crash.

"The people who live and work in this area understand how challenging the weather and terrain can be, and they've been incredibly generous with help and advice," Colonel McMullen said. "I want to make sure we do everything we can to keep those folks and other visitors safe until we can get back in there to complete the restoration process."
 
http://www.pacaf.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123239443
Alaska F-22 AIB on recess

by Pacific Air Forces Public Affairs

1/21/2011 - JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR HICKAM, Hawaii -- The Accident Investigation Board for the Alaska-based F-22 Raptor crash recessed, Jan. 14, per the direction of Gen. Gary North, Pacific Air Forces commander.

The board will resume when weather conditions allow further recovery operations of the crash site located near Cantwell, Alaska. Capt. Jeff Haney, pilot of the F-22 Raptor, was on a routine, night training mission and lost his life due to the crash, Nov. 16.

The Accident Investigation Board has been unable to determine the cause of the accident with the information and evidence currently available. The board seeks to ensure all the evidence available at the crash site is recovered to help determine the cause or causes of the accident and the contributing factors to the mishap.

The Air Force and AIB team is committed to conducting a thorough investigation of the crash site to determine the cause and situation surrounding the crash.

The joint Air Force and Army recovery team suspended recovery and restoration efforts Dec. 2010.

The Air Force established a call center at (907) 552-9321. Anyone who finds debris that may be part of the aircraft should notify the call center so trained technicians can recover the material safely and minimize any potential hazards to civilians in the area and any potential long-term impact to the environment. Before the weather halted recovery efforts, most visible pieces of the wreckage were removed from the site.
 
From Flightglobal: DOD Inspector General finds USAF F-22 crash report conclusions not supported by the facts

The US Department of Defense (DOD) inspector general (IG) has found that the conclusions of an US Air Force Accident Investigation Board (AIB) report into the fatal 16 November, 2010, crash of a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor are not supported by the facts. The crash took the life of Capt Jeff Haney, a pilot assigned to the 525th Fighter Squadron based at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.

"We concluded that the AIB Statement of Opinion regarding the cause of the mishap was not supported by the facts within the AIB report consistent with the clear and convincing standard of proof established by AFI 51-503," writes Randolph Stone, the Pentagon's deputy inspector general in a memo attached to the report. "Our conclusion was supported by five individual findings, and we recommended that the AIB report be reevaluated in light of our findings."
The original AIB report issued in December 2011 concluded that even though the Raptor's life support systems had shut down, and the emergency oxygen system was difficult to use, that the crash was Haney's fault because he had not acted quickly enough to save himself. The AIB was chaired by Brig Gen James Browne who wrote in the report: "I find the cause of the mishap was the MP's [mishap pilot] failure to recognize and initiate a timely dive recovery due to channelized attention, breakdown of visual scan and unrecognized spatial disorientation."

The inspector general found that while the AIB report cites channelized attention, breakdown of visual scan, and unrecognized spatial disorientation as the cause of the F-22 mishap, the factors are separate, distinct, and conflicting. "The AIB report does not clearly explain their interrelationship and how it is possible that all three factors concurrently caused the mishap," the IG report reads.

The inspector general also questions the AIB's determination that Haney's oxygen mask was in the full up position during the sequence of events leading up the accident. "This determination directly affected several conclusions of the AIB and precluded the analysis of other potential causes of the mishap," the IG report reads.

The AIB also failed to adequately analyze the various human factors it listed as non-contributory. "The AIB report's Non-Contributory portion of the Human Factors section inadequately analyzes the human factors listed, such as hypoxia, gravity-induced loss of consciousness, and sudden incapacitation and does not contain any references and/or supporting documentation. Without detailed analysis and proper documentation, it is unclear how the AIB determined that these factors did not contribute to the mishap," the IG report reads. "The AIB report lacked detailed analysis of several areas, such as the Emergency Oxygen System activation as well as the physiological reactions to lack of oxygen."

There were also numerous errors in the AIB report. "Of the 109 references in the AIB report's Summary of Facts, 60 of those references were either incorrect or did not direct the reader of the AIB report to the information cited in the paragraph," IG report notes.
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<edit> found link to Inspector General's Report at The DEW Line: http://www.scribd.com/doc/125032175/DODIG-2013-041-pdf
 
As discussed on another thread, funny how fighters developed before the DOT&E existed never had this problem. Lot of good that extra layer of mandarins has done.
 
2IDSGT said:
As discussed on another thread, funny how fighters developed before the DOT&E existed never had this problem. Lot of good that extra layer of mandarins has done.
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That is a pretty narrow point of view. Earlier aircraft may not have had exactly this problem, but a lot of F-100 pilots probably wished there had been a bit more testing before deployment. And F-104 pilots.

The RCAF lost a number of P-51s right after the war that dove straight in form high altitude, with a suspected culprit being lack of familiarity with US style oxygen systems and masks.
 
Perhaps it's time to read this item from The DEW Line again:
Settlement reached in Haney F-22 crash lawsuit
By Dave Majumdar on August 13, 2012 11:15 PM

The contractors who built the F-22 Raptor have reached a settlement with Anna Haney, wife of the late Captain Jeff "Bong" Haney of the 525th Fighter Squadron/3d Wing at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. The details of the settlement are not being released.

I'm going to refrain from commenting on the USAF's AIB report since I'm sure I'll get myself into trouble if I say anything.
You can read that story here if you so wish.
The original document can be found here: http://usaf.aib.law.af.mil/ExecSum2011/F-22A_AK_16%20Nov%2010.pdf
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Flightglobal:
USAF refuses to reopen F-22 accident investigation despite damning Inspector General’s report

The US Air Force will not reopen the Accident Investigation Board (AIB) that examined the 16 November, 2010, crash of a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor despite the US Department of Defense (DOD) Inspector General's (IG) findings that the board's conclusions were flawed.

The crash took the life of Capt Jeff Haney, a pilot assigned to the 525th Fighter Squadron based at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.
"The convening authority, Gen Herbert Carlisle, PACAF [Pacific Air Forces] commander, directed that the AIB be reconvened (not reopened) in order to re-write the AIB report for clarity (to address the issues identified by DoD IG)," the US Air Force says in a written statement. "AFI [Air Force Instruction] 51-503 (paragraph 10.4) explains what it takes to re-open an investigation, specifically that there need to be new evidence. The convening authority is the only person who can re-open or reconvene an AIB."

The DOD IG, however, recommends that the AIB report be re-evaluated because of the numerous flaws discovered by their investigation. "We concluded that the AIB Statement of Opinion regarding the cause of the mishap was not supported by the facts within the AIB report consistent with the clear and convincing standard of proof established by AFI 51-503," writes Randolph Stone, the Pentagon's deputy inspector general in a memo attached to the IG report. "Our conclusion was supported by five individual findings, and we recommended that the AIB report be reevaluated in light of our findings."
Despite the IG report, the USAF remains steadfast that its AIB report simply needs to be rewritten for clarity despite the investigative lapses exposed by the inspector general's inquiry.

"Accident investigation boards are reconvened, among other reasons, to make clerical or administrative changes to an AIB report. AIBs can be reopened upon discovery of additional evidence that could affect the statement of opinion," the USAF says. "When an AIB is re-opened, it signifies an active or ongoing investigation. In this case, the AIB was reconvened to evaluate the information contained within the report by the [USAF] panel of experts and determine whether portions of the AIB could be better-written. The panel of experts report did not involve the discovery of additional evidence that could affect the AIB conclusion/statement of opinion."

Numerous sources voiced concerns over the quality and conclusions of the AIB report when it was initially released in December 2011. But even as the IG began its investigation, former USAF chief of staff Gen Norton Schwartz maintained that the inquiry was simply "routine".
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