SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- Air Mobility Command has released the report of an accident investigation board investigating a July 8, 2025, mishap involving a U.S. Air Force KC-46A Pegasus aircraft assigned to the 22nd Air Refueling Wing and an F-22A Raptor aircraft assigned to the 1st Fighter Wing.
While the KC-46A aircraft was refueling the F-22A aircraft over the Atlantic Ocean, a nozzle binding event occurred during a breakaway which resulted in the air refueling boom striking the tail section of the KC-46A aircraft, breaking off, then falling into the ocean. The report identified an estimated $9,979,567 of damage to the associated KC-46A aircraft.
The mishap did not result in any injuries or damage to civilian property.
The investigation found that all KC-46A mishap aircraft crew members were properly qualified for their tasks prior to the incident or under direct supervision from an instructor. The F-22A mishap aircraft pilot was a student under the direct supervision of a present instructor pilot.
The AIB president’s statement of opinion noted that, by a preponderance of the evidence, the mishap was caused by the mishap boom operator’s manual control inputs to the air refueling flight control stick, resulting in an excessively out of trim air refueling boom that produced a radial force to the boom nozzle which then caused it to become bound inside of the receiver aircraft’s air refueling receptacle.
The statement of opinion also noted that, by a preponderance of the evidence, a substantially contributing factor of the mishap was a failure of the F-22A receiving aircraft’s pilot to account for KC-46A aircraft stiff boom characteristics.
The full version of the investigation report can be found here: https://www.afjag.af.mil/AIB-Reports/
For more information, please contact Air Mobility Command Public Affairs at (618) 229-0063.