Starting Point

Coming up Wednesday

Latest from Oklahoma in wake of devastating tornado– Tune in at 7am ET.
May 8th, 2012
01:17 PM ET

Rep. Kinzinger on giving whistleblower protection to pilots who question safety of F-22 planes

The Air Force is fighting back this morning against pilots who say the F-22 "next generation jet" is making them sick, and putting them at risk for serious accidents. The Air Force says it will keep using the jets.

It's the Air Force's most sophisticated and expensive aircraft, at $400 million each. But two captains say they and others have become too disoriented to fly them.

The commander of Air Combat Command, General Mike Hostage says "Right now, we believe that risk, although it's not as low as we would like it, is low enough to safely operate the airplane at the current tempo."

Congressman Adam Kinzinger is giving those pilots who speak up whistleblower protection under the Military Whistleblower Protection Act. He explains why to Soledad this morning.


Filed under: Military • Safety • Whistleblower