A state-of-the-art US F-22 stealth fighter was towed nose down onto a runway in Japan, apparently having a landing gear collapse.
The incident occurred on the morning of April 11 at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. Images released by local media showed the US F-22 Raptor fighter jet being towed down the runway with its nose facing the ground.
US and Japanese officials have not commented, but military expert David Cenciotti of Aviationist said the plane appeared to have collapsed, possibly having had an accident while landing.
A US F-22 Raptor fighter jet nosedived onto the runway on April 11. Photo: X/Vivek Singh
Fire trucks and other vehicles were dispatched to the scene, but there was no sign of a fire. The extent of the damage is unknown.
The F-22 Raptor is America's most modern stealth fighter, 19 meters long, with a wingspan of 13 meters, a ceiling of 15 km, a maximum speed of Mach 2 (2,496 km/h), and a range of nearly 3,000 km when carrying two auxiliary fuel tanks and further when refueled in the air.
The US Air Force currently operates a total of 183 F-22 fighters, but only 125 are combat-capable. Each aircraft costs nearly $180 million, not including weapons and equipment.
This is not the first time this fighter model has had problems with its landing gear. In March 2022, images of an F-22 aircraft nosediving at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, USA, after experiencing problems with its landing gear, appeared on social media. US officials later confirmed that the incident occurred while the fighter was landing.
F-22 Raptor fighter jets perform in Canada in August 2021. Photo: US Air Force
A year earlier, an F-22 Raptor of the 325th Fighter Wing had an emergency in flight and landed safely at Eglin Air Force Base, but its front landing gear collapsed.
In 2021, the US Air Force Air Combat Command inspected the entire F-22 fleet at Eglin Air Force Base and 10% of F-22 fighters at other bases, concluding that at least 1/5 of the aircraft had problems with landing gear due to improper installation.
In addition to the F-22, several other US fighter models have also encountered similar problems. In late January, an F-35C stealth fighter belonging to the Marine Corps Attack Squadron (VMFA) suffered a collapsed landing gear, plunging its nose into the hangar floor at Fallon Air Force Base in Nevada.
Pham Giang (According to Aviationist, ASF, TWZ )
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