Langley F-22s on temporary stand-down

HAMPTON, Va. (AP/WAVY) - The Air Force has issued a temporary stand-down for its fleet of F-22 Raptors of the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley Air Force Base.

The decision affects only the Raptors at the Hampton base. Earlier this year, the Air Force had grounded its entire fleet of Raptors for more than four months after concerns over its oxygen-supply system had prompted a larger examination of the stealth fighter.

Spokeswoman Maj. Christin Marposon tells the Daily Press that the commander of the 1st Fighter Wing issued the temporary stand-down order Friday.

Air Force officials released the following statement regarding the stand-down:

"As the Air Force Chief of Staff has said with respect to the decision to return the F-22 to Flight operations, there is no conclusive cause or group of causes that has been established for the incidents that prompted the stand down earlier this year. We've therefore made the decision to resume operations while implementing improvements to the aircraft's life support systems and carefully collecting and analyzing operational maintenance and physiological data for all Raptor flights, more than 1,300 missions since the return to flight. Part of our protocol is to allow units to pause operations whenever they need to analyze information collected from flight operations to ensure safety. That is what is happening at Langley at the moment and we support that decision."

Air force officials told WAVY.com that there was a physiological event that is currently being analyzed that gave the local commander reason to briefly pause operations to provide the necessary safety resources to crews.