On Thursday, the same day that the Air Force released the details on the cause of an F-22 mishap at Tyndall AFB, Fla., back in May (see entry below), another Raptor crashed at the northwest Florida base, announced officials there. The fighter went down about one quarter mile east of the base’s “drone” runway at 3:30 p.m. East Coast time, they said in a Nov. 15 statement. The pilot safely ejected from the aircraft and was under medical supervision on base, they said. Panama City’s News Herald reported that the fallen F-22 burned inside the base perimeter. Col. David Graff, commander of Tyndall’s 325th Fighter Wing, said the crash occurred while the F-22 was returning to base, according to the newspaper. While Tyndall is home to the Air Force’s F-22 schoolhouse, Graff said the pilot was not in training. The accident caused local officials to close a nearby highway as a safety precaution. The Air Force said it would release additional details as they become available.
The Air Force awarded a $13.08 billion contract to the Sierra Nevada Corporation on April 26 for its Survivable Airborne Operations Center aircraft, the successor to the service’s E-4B “Doomsday” plane. Like the E-4B, officially called the National Airborne Operations Center, the SAOC will be meant to withstand a nuclear attack and keep…