Tyndall AFB suffers massive damage; including irreplaceable F-22s

originally posted by: highvein
a reply to: Zaphod58


I wonder how Eglin and Hurlburt Field faired through this?

they didn't get touched

I seriously doubt they're all still on base, but the Air Force hasn't said where 22 of the base F-22s are. They sent 33 to Ohio.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I guess it would be strategic to not disclose where they all went.

I certainly hope they did not lose many of this incredible aircraft.

originally posted by: charlyv
a reply to: Zaphod58

I guess it would be strategic to not disclose where they all went.

I certainly hope they did not lose many of this incredible aircraft.

I don’t see how it could be so high but that’d be utterly deviating if that was the case, even the loss of one raptor is a crying shame.

At least twelve of those F-22s were on base when the storm hit. Several have already been declared damaged beyond repair.

What a mess. ironic the display phantom, Super saber and dart appear undamaged yet every other aircraft looks likes toast. Only bright side is there might be enough spare parts on hand to fix some of these planes.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
At least twelve of those F-22s were on base when the storm hit. Several have already been declared damaged beyond repair.

Yikes I had no idea their would be 12 left behind, were they undergoing an upgrade or something? Why would 12 of the 33(?) be unable to fly to a safer location? Is the sortie rate that bad on the 22? Sad day for the 5th gen for sure.😣

a reply to: BigDave-AR

According to a post by someone that said they're part of the 43rd FS, they left four jets behind. One ground aborted prior to taxi, when attempting to get out, two were Cann birds, and one had an issue that couldn't be fixed with parts on hand. I'm sure some were in Phase, meaning they had engines removed, panels pulled, etc. That's a couple days to get back together, and ties up people that could be getting jets closer to ready out.

It was actually 12 of 55. Tyndall has 55 F-22s. They flew 33 of them out to Ohio, and the Air Force hasn't said where the other 22 went. We now know at least 12 of those were on base.

Travis C-17 taking off-



Former F-22 sun shades-

Don't know how many times I have answered the question since the drone video hit the net... if a plane isn't safe to fly its not safe to fly doesn't matter how much it cost, or how few there are in the inventory.

It sucks, but it would have been worse if they tried to fly unsafe jets and something worse happened like a crash into a populated area.

a reply to: Irishhaf

The comments from people that have only been to airshows are hysterical. "One phone call and they could have had a C-5 there" or "they could have literally towed them down the road", and, "get a trailer there and drive them out".

a reply to: Zaphod58


Yea tow them out down the road during an evacuation …. that would work out swell.

I wouldn't be surprised if some LT didn't make a suggestion like that, that's one thing that was nice about never being stationed on the coast.

It was bad enough having a tornado skip down the flight line throwing the parachute stand for the buff about a mile away, couldn't imagine heading back to try and make that place livable again.


I honestly wonder if they are looking at writing off the base and moving the assets to a new location, the price tag to fix it has gone to be massive.

originally posted by: Irishhaf
Don't know how many times I have answered the question since the drone video hit the net... if a plane isn't safe to fly its not safe to fly doesn't matter how much it cost, or how few there are in the inventory.

It sucks, but it would have been worse if they tried to fly unsafe jets and something worse happened like a crash into a populated area.

I was just asking why so many would be left behind wasn’t saying that they should have put aircrews in danger trying to get more out I was just very surprised at the number. I’m very glad no crews were injured as that’s the most important thing at the end of the day.

a reply to: Irishhaf

They're almost going to have to. Going by the daily reports there's nothing left except the runway. Even the drone runway was heavily damaged.

Should they make special shelters at natural disaster prone areas in case? Would have paid for itself.

a reply to: C0bzz

This is the strongest hurricane to ever hit the area. I can see why they didn't have hardened shelters, but if they rebuild the base they should build them.

a reply to: BigDave-AR

Sorry that post was more frustration at family and real world friends badgering me about the planes being left.


I would say its about 98% likely that any plane left in the path of a hurricane or typhoon is a plane they cannot get safely off the ground.

Ill leave a 2% cushion for stupid officers.

a reply to: Irishhaf

It sounds like these were in the 98%. One broke during the evac launch, and there were several cann birds.

we spend 5 times more than the next biggest military power, and they didn't build hurricane hardened repair bunkers there?????....gee, who would ever think a massive hurricane would come through Florida?.....

a reply to: jimmyx

They've never had a storm this strong in that area. It went from a category two, which they would have handled, to a category 5 in the 12 hours before it hit the base. You don't build tornado shelters in areas that haven't seen tornadoes, they didn't build hangars capable of handling a storm that's never been seen there.