Raptors Return to Flight

Oct. 27, 2011 | By Amy Hudson

The Air Force’s F-22s are flying again, officials at JB Langley-Eustis, Va., and JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, told the Daily Report Wednesday. Both bases temporarily grounded their Raptor fleets last week after two Virginia-based pilots experienced hypoxia-like symptoms during a training sortie on Oct. 20. Alaska’s aircraft were up and flying again Monday. Officials there temporarily paused operations over the weekend as a precaution following the incident in Virginia, a base spokesman told the Daily Report. The restriction on Langley-Eustis’ aircraft was lifted by 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday US East Coast time and the F-22s are once again flying the “same number of sorties as before the brief pause,” said Monica Miller Rodgers, a spokeswoman with the joint installation’s 633rd Air Base Wing. Raptor pilots are not operating under any new restrictions. However, “the commander continues to closely monitor operations,” said Miller Rodgers. The Air Force declined to release any additional information on the Oct. 20 incident, saying officials continue to analyze it.

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