The wife of deceased US Air Force F-22 Raptor pilot Captain Jeff "Bong" Haney is suing contractors Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Pratt and Whitney and Honeywell in connection with the 16 November 2010 crash that took his life.
The complaint was filed on 5 March 2012 in a court in Cook County, Illinois, by Michael Demetrio, a lawyer representing Anna Haney. The lawsuit seeks compensation, which would be chosen by the court, for Haney and her two daughters Ava and Stella Rose under the Wrongful Death Act.
Prime contractor Lockheed is responsible for the overall production of the Raptor, but Boeing as a major sub-contractor integrated the aircraft's life-support system. Honeywell builds the on-board oxygen generating system (OBOGS) and environmental control systems (ECS). Meanwhile Pratt and Whitney makes the F119 engine and associated bleed-air system-which supplies the entire life-support apparatus with oxygen.
The lawsuit alleges that the contractors designed and built the F-22 Raptor with defective life-support systems including the OBOGS, ECS and bleed air system. The suit also alleges that system was built without adequate backup safety measures or proper sensors to warn the pilot if there is a problem.
Moreover, the plaintiff alleges that the oxygen supplied to the operator is often contaminated with harmful chemicals via the aircraft OBOGS, ECS and engine bleed air system. Sometimes the system doesn't supply enough oxygen when needed, nor does it have an automatic backup in case of a failure, the lawsuit says.
Particularly, the suit notes that the manually operated backup oxygen bottle is placed in a difficult to reach spot behind the pilot and that the bleed air system is a single point of failure.
The Haney's lawsuit alleges that the contractors knowingly supplied the air force with a defective aircraft-intentionally jeopardizing the lives of aircrew.
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