| Aviation News-Fod damages Raptor engine.
A small metal pin and streamer accidentally sucked into the jet engine of a new, Air Force F-22 Raptor caused $6.7 million in damage, according to an Air Force report released today.
The accident occurred Oct. 20, 2005, during a night training exercise at Hill Air Force Base in Utah. No one was injured in the accident, but the engine was ruined, an Air Force spokesman said.
The fighter jet comes from the first generation of stealth Raptors and is assigned to the 27th Fighter Squadron at Langley Air Force Base.
It was an accident, said Lt. Daniel Goldberg, spokesman for Air Combat Command. It's a new airplane. As we work along, we're going to try to find out any problems.
The 22-page report blamed the accident on an inadequate and incomplete training manual. The manual failed to instruct mechanics to pull the nose landing gear pin before starting the jet engines.
The Air Force deemed the Raptor ready for combat in December. Two squadrons at Langley Air Force base have received Raptors, which are slated to replace older F-15 and F-16 aircraft.
Critics have said the airplane is too expensive and has an ill-defined role in the national defense. The Raptor was designed during the Cold War to engage Soviet fighters in air-to-air combat.
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