https://www.cnn.com/2009/US/03/25/calif ... index.html
https://airforcetimes.com/news/2009/03/ ... h_032509w/WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An Air Force F-22A fighter jet crashed Wednesday near Edwards Air Force Base in California, killing the test pilot, the Air Force said.
An F-22A fighter jet similar to this one crashed Wednesday during a test mission in California.
An F-22A fighter jet similar to this one crashed Wednesday during a test mission in California.
The single-seater crashed about 10:30 a.m. (1:30 p.m. ET) for unknown reasons, Air Force officials said.
Lockheed Martin said the test pilot, David Cooley, 49, of Palmdale, California, joined the company in 2003 and was a 21-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force.
The fighter was on a test mission when it crashed about 35 miles northeast of Edwards AFB, where it was stationed, the Air Force said in a news release.
At $150 million apiece, the F-22A is the most expensive Air Force fighter.
In 2004, an F-22 Raptor crashed on a training mission in the Nevada desert. The pilot ejected and was not hurt, though the jet was destroyed.
The plane was designed in the 1980s to provide a stealthy method to enter Soviet air space and strike Soviet bombers if the USSR attempted a nuclear strike.
Once the Cold War ended, the Air Force found a new mission for the F-22 as a long-range fighter with a sophisticated stealth design and state-of-the-art equipment that no other plane could rival.
However, the rising cost of the plane and numerous design and software problems threatened the program, which was almost eliminated by Congress.