Search for F-22 Pilot Jeffrey Haney Continues in Alaskan Wilderness

(Nov. 19) -- The search for the pilot of an Air Force F-22 Raptor continues today deep in the Alaskan wilderness where rescuers are battling frigid temperatures and snowstorms.

The missing pilot, Capt. Jeffrey Haney of the 525th Fighter Squadron, was identified by the Air Force last night. He was based at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, near Anchorage.

"The training area where the F-22 crashed is larger than the state of Vermont," Air Force Col. Jack McMullen said in a statement. "It's remote, with no maintained roads in the winter, and the terrain is very rugged. All these factors complicate the process even in good weather. When you factor in subzero temperatures and the potential for heavy snowfall, you see this is truly a massive undertaking."

Two military convoys driving north from Anchorage toward the crash site were forced to hunker down last night due to a snowstorm, the Anchorage Daily News reports. The convoys are carrying troops and equipment and are expected to set up a base camp at a shuttered wilderness lodge on the Denali Highway today.

Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson spokesman John Pennell said dozens of Army and Air Force personnel and vehicles will be involved in the search effort, with hundreds of others supporting the search on the ground.

The wreckage of the F-22 was discovered Wednesday morning in a stream bed between two mountains. The crash site was reportedly a crater. Para-rescuers landed at the site and spent several hours searching for Haney, but did not find any sign of him. Pennell said the Air Force has no indication of whether or not he ejected from the plane, a possibility that has Alaska Air National Guard helicopters and a four-engine plane searching the wilderness for his parachute and signs of a campfire.

"We're going to proceed in thinking he's alive until we have a strong reason to believe he might not be," said Maj. Guy Hayes of the National Guard's Rescue Coordination Center.

Temperatures in the area have been below zero this week. McMullen said at a press conference on Wednesday that Haney had survival gear and cold weather training.

Haney's parents traveled to Alaska Thursday to meet his wife, Anna, and the couple's two small children, the Jackson Citizen Patriot reported.

Read more at the Anchorage Daily News.

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