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Search for pilot continues after F-22 crash in AK

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska – Searchers are holding out hope, but have found no sign of the pilot of an Air Force F-22 fighter jet that crashed in a remote area of interior Alaska.

The jet was nearing the end of a training mission Tuesday night when ground radar lost track of it. Rescue aircraft spotted the wreckage Wednesday morning, and a helicopter was able to land at the crash site in the afternoon.

Alaska National Guard spokesman Maj. Guy Hayes says pararescuers found no sign of the pilot. Searchers are leaving the site for the night, but Hayes says an air search will continue, looking for a campfire, a parachute or ejection seat.

Pilots carry survival gear and are trained for Arctic conditions. The pilot's name has not been released.

Air Force officials say the crash site is about 100 miles north of Anchorage, near Denali National Park.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska (AP) — Search and rescue aircraft discovered what military officials believed to be the wreckage of a missing Air Force F-22 jet on Wednesday south of Denali National Park in Alaska.

The wreckage was spotted at 10:15 a.m. about 100 miles north of Anchorage, but a helicopter crew could not land, according to Air Force officials. A rescue team was still looking for the pilot, said Col. Jack McMullen, 3rd Wing Commander at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.

"We're still doing an active search for the pilot," McMullen said. "Perhaps he ejected."

The jet had been in the air about an hour and 20 minutes and was nearing the end of a training run at 7:40 p.m. Tuesday when ground radar lost track of it and another pilot on the mission lost communications, McMullen said.

The pilot, whose name has not been released, had split off from the other jet and was about to do a "rejoin" before they returned to Anchorage as a unit flying about two miles apart, McMullen said.

The other pilot refueled in the air and began searching for the missing aircraft.

The Alaska Air National Guard aircraft joined the search and continued until about 5 a.m. Wednesday. New crews picked up the search.

McMullen said he had no details on the terrain where the crash was spotted.

A helicopter was nearing the crash site as he spoke, McMullen said, and likely will confirm whether the pilot was with the jet.

"We have not confirmed that he is with the plane, so we're going to continue looking for him until we have confirmation of where the pilot is," McMullen said.

If he ejected, he would be prepared for subzero weather.

"They have survival gear," McMullen said. "He's Arctic trained to survive in that environment. He's got the gear on. He's got stuff in his survival kit, so that he could hunker himself down and fight the extreme cold."

The twin-engine F-22 Raptor entered service in the mid-2000s and arrived at Elmendorf in August 2007. It's far more maneuverable and stealthy than earlier jets and can cruise at more than 1 1/2 times the speed of sound without using its afterburner. Its top speed is confidential.

Congress last year stopped production of the plane, built by Lockheed Martin Corp., by eliminating $1.75 billion that would have added seven F-22s to the Air Force's fleet.

An F-22 crashed in March 2009 near Edwards Air Force Base in California, killing the pilot. In July, a C-17 cargo jet from the 3rd Wing at Elmendorf crashed during a training demonstration for an air show, killing all four crewmen aboard.