Pilot uninjured after F-22 crash in Georgia

The Air Force is investigating an accident involving an F-22 fighter jet that occurred around 11:30 a.m. May 6 at Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport, Georgia.

One pilot was involved in the accident, but “there were no injuries,” the Georgia Air National Guard’s 165th Airlift Wing wrote in a news release. It was not immediately clear whether the accident was an in-flight emergency or if it occurred on the ground.

The F-22, assigned to the 71st Fighter Squadron, 1st Fighter Wing at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, participated in Sentry Savannah, an annual combat training course for Air National Guard fighters held at the Air Dominance Center. The exercise continues as planned.

“Thank you to all the first responders who responded to the scene,” Col. Stephen Thomas, commander of the Air Dominance Center, said in a statement. “Sentry Savannah is all about demonstrating preparedness and today’s accident validated our pilots’ ability to respond at a moment’s notice.

“The incident is under investigation,” the 165th Airlift Wing wrote in its statement.

The Air Force has just 185 F-22s: fifth-generation, stealthy air dominance fighters that were originally intended to replace the older F-15 Eagle. The last F-22 accident occurred in March 2022, when the landing gear of a Raptor collapsed while landing at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. A year earlier, an almost identical accident occurred, also in Eglin.

Although high-tech and expensive, F-22s can recover from accidents. Last May, a Raptor took to the skies again, five years after sustaining major damage due to a failed takeoff in 2018.