Overheating in APU exhaust bay causes millions in damage to F-22A Raptor at Nellis

Overheating in APU exhaust bay causes millions in damage to F-22A Raptor at Nellis

By Dario Leone
Jul 12 2021
Share this article

An F-22A Raptor was damaged after experiencing an overheat condition in the auxiliary power unit (APU) exhaust bay on Oct. 30, 2020, at Nellis Air Force Base.

An F-22A Raptor was damaged after experiencing an overheat condition in the auxiliary power unit (APU) exhaust bay on Oct. 30, 2020, at Nellis Air Force Base (AFB), Nevada, an ACC Public Affairs Staff, Air Combat Command, news release said.

The aircraft involved was assigned to the 422d Test and Evaluation Squadron, Nellis AFB, Nevada, 53d Wing, headquartered at Eglin AFB, Florida. The aircraft was maintained by the 757th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 57th Wing, Nellis AFB, Nevada.

Two days prior to the accident, the APU mixing exhaust duct was removed so the aircraft could undergo troubleshooting for a modification. However, applicable circuit breakers were not collared and proper warnings were not applied to the aircraft or its digital forms as required by the technical order.

On the day of the mishap, the aircraft’s APU Emergency-Off Switch was incorrectly set to “Normal.” A maintenance member used the APU in order to defuel the aircraft, not recognizing that the APU mixing exhaust duct needed to be installed before the unit could be used. Once the APU was started, hot exhaust gas flowed directly into the exhaust bay rather than being diverted out of the aircraft. With smoke emanating from the exhaust bay, the maintenance member selected the wrong course of action by making an improper attempt to run diagnostics and review fault-reporting codes. This prolonged the duration of the overheat condition. Another maintenance member in the vicinity then shut down the APU manually.

The Accident Investigation Board (AIB) president found that the cause of the mishap was improper maintenance procedures resulting in the start of the APU while the unit’s mixing exhaust duct was removed. The AIB president also found four factors that substantially contributed to the accident: (1) the culture of the mishap unit, including limited use of circuit breaker collars and inconsistent use of warnings; (2) the design of test instrumentation on the aircraft which obscured access to applicable circuit breakers; (3) the extensive nature of the aircraft’s modification; and (4) the distractions caused by several non-standard events scheduled on the day of the mishap.

The estimated cost to replace damaged parts and repair the aircraft is valued at $2,690,000.

F-22A Print
This print is available in multiple sizes from AircraftProfilePrints.com – CLICK HERE TO GET YOURS. F-22A Raptor 192nd Fighter Wing, 149th Fighter Squadron, FF/04-4082 – Langley AFB, VA – 2014

Photo credit: U.S. Air Force via AIB


Share this article

Dario Leone

Dario Leone

Dario Leone is an aviation, defense and military writer. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviation Geek Club” one of the world’s most read military aviation blogs. His writing has appeared in The National Interest and other news media. He has reported from Europe and flown Super Puma and Cougar helicopters with the Swiss Air Force.

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Share this article


Share this article
Share this article

Always up to date! News and offers delivered directly to you!

Get the best aviation news, stories and features from The Aviation Geek Club in our newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.



    Share this article
    Back to top
    My Agile Privacy
    This website uses technical and profiling cookies. Clicking on "Accept" authorises all profiling cookies. Clicking on "Refuse" or the X will refuse all profiling cookies. By clicking on "Customise" you can select which profiling cookies to activate.
    Warning: some page functionalities could not work due to your privacy choices