General briefs committee on F-22 safety fixes

A top Air Force General outlined steps taken to make sure jet pilots don’t black out. Two whistleblower pilots recently said the F-22 oxygen delivery system was faulty, causing a condition known as hypoxia.

The Senate Armed Services Committee wanted to know more. Lt. Gen. Janet Wolfenbarger told the committee the Air Force made 17 life-support enhancements to the F-22. One is a fingertip sensor to tell when pilots are starved for oxygen. Wolfenbarger said pilot blackouts occurred in less than one-tenth of 1 percent of F-22 sorties.

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