http://www.dsti.net/Information/News/71570
美國空軍停飛弗吉尼亞州基地的F-22
2011-10-25
[據美國《防務新聞》網站2011年10月21日報導]空軍官員在10月21日證實美國空軍已再次停飛部署在弗吉尼亞州Langley-Eustis聯合基地第一戰鬥機聯隊所屬的F-22“猛禽”戰鬥機。
空軍發言人Chad Steffey少校表示該停飛決定僅限於弗吉尼亞州基地。空軍作戰司令部發言人證實該決定是第一戰鬥機聯隊司令官凱文•羅賓斯在一次事故後作出的。
雖然並未透露詳細情況,空軍官員證實該聯隊一名飛行員似乎遭遇了供氧系統相關的問題。
空軍“猛禽”機隊在經歷了四個半月的停飛後在上個月剛剛獲許恢復飛行作業。這種第五代隱身戰鬥機在出現十幾名飛行員遭遇“缺氧”症狀後於5月3日開始停飛。
空軍仍在調查F-22氧氣系統的問題,但由於空軍官員認為該風險因素已經減輕,因此允許該型機恢復飛行。然而,空軍仍未確定是什麼原因造成飛機氧氣系統的問題。
發言人Scott Knuteson在一份電子郵件聲明中表示:“尚未得出結論是單個原因還是多個原因造成今年年初的事故。因此,我們已經做出恢復該機飛行作業的決定,同時實施改善該型機生命保障系統的措施,並認真收集和分析所有‘猛禽’戰機飛行的使用、維護和飛行員生理資料,自恢復飛行以來,該型機已完成超過1300次任務飛行。”
然而,作為恢復飛行的一個條件,空軍首長已授權一線司令官可根據需要暫停飛行。
Knuteson表示:“我們的規定的部分內容是允許使用單位在他們需要分析飛行作業中搜集的資料以確保安全時暫停作業。這就是Langley所發生的事情,我們支援這項決定。”
有消息說當戰機複飛後,空軍所採取的一項預防措施是在飛行員的供氧系統中添加活性炭過濾裝置。此外,飛行員被要求提供血液樣本以作為衡量未來事故的基準,同時要求佩戴脈搏氧飽和度儀。該設備是在出現生理問題時提醒飛行員。
然而,眾多的消息來源對於恢復飛行的安排表示擔心。(中國航空工業發展研究中心 許贇)
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=8025305&c=AIR&s=TOP
USAF Grounds F-22s at Va. Base
By DAVE MAJUMDAR
Published: 21 Oct 2011 18:28
U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors at the 1st Fighter Wing, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., have once again been grounded, service officials confirmed Oct. 21.
Air Force spokesman Maj. Chad Steffey said that the grounding decision is limited to the Virginia base. A spokesman for Air Combat Command confirmed that the wing's commander, Col. Kevin Robbins, made the decision after an incident.
While details were not immediately available, Air Force officials confirmed that one of the wing's pilots appeared to have suffered an oxygen-related problem.
The Air Force's Raptor fleet was only cleared to resume flight operations last month after a four-and-a-half month grounding. The stealthy fifth-generation fighter was originally grounded May 3 after about a dozen pilots suffered "hypoxia-like" symptoms.
The Air Force is still investigating the problem with the F-22's oxygen system, but had cleared the aircraft to fly because service officials felt that the risk factors had been mitigated. However, the Air Force has not determined what is causing the problem with the jet's oxygen systems.
"There is no conclusive cause or group of causes that has been established for the incidents that prompted the stand-down earlier this year," spokesman Scott Knuteson said in an emailed statement. "We've therefore made the decision to resume operations while implementing improvements to the aircraft's life support systems and carefully collecting and analyzing operational, maintenance and physiological data for all Raptor flights - more than 1,300 missions since the return to flight."
However, as a condition to allowing flights to resume, Air Force leaders have enabled operational commanders to suspend operations as needed.
"Part of our protocol is to allow units to pause operations whenever they need to analyze information collected from flight operations to ensure safety," Knuteson said. "That is what is happening at Langley at the moment, and we support that decision."
One precaution the service took when returning the jets to service was to add carbon filters to the pilot's oxygen supply, one source said. Additionally, pilots were required to give blood samples to use as a baseline to measure against in case of future incidents and are now required to wear a device called a pulse oximeter. The device is supposed to alert the pilot if there is a physiological problem.
However, numerous sources had voiced their misgivings about the return to flight arrangements.