Panetta restricts flights of F-22s

WASHINGTON, May 16 (UPI) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has restricted flights of F-22 Raptor fighter jets because of concerns about oxygen systems aboard the planes.

Under the restrictions, Pentagon spokesman George Little said, F-22 flights must remain close enough to potential landing locations "to enable quick recovery and landing should the pilot encounter unanticipated physiological conditions during flight," the Los Angeles Times reported.

Panetta also has requested a monthly progress report on the investigation into the cause of the F-22's oxygen system problem and ordered the Air Force to speed installation of an automatic backup oxygen system.

The secretary also has asked the Navy and NASA to try to find a solution.

Since 2008, F-22 pilots have reported more than a dozen cases where they weren't getting enough oxygen aboard the jets, causing symptoms of oxygen deprivation, which can cause nausea, headaches, fatigue and blackouts.

The oxygen system problem is suspected of contributing to at least one fatal crash, which killed Capt. Jeff Haney whose F-22 crashed in the Alaskan wilderness in November 2010, the Times has reported.

The entire fleet of F-22s had been grounded last year for nearly five months.

The Air Force received the last of its order of 188 F-22s two weeks ago. The jets, made by Lockheed Martin, cost $143 million each, the Air Force said.