{"id":81288,"date":"2026-06-16T23:20:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T23:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2026\/06\/16\/kc-46a-boom-mishap-caused-by-operator-and-f-22-pilot-errors-investigation-finds\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:39:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:39:37","slug":"kc-46a-boom-mishap-caused-by-operator-and-f-22-pilot-errors-investigation-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2026\/06\/16\/kc-46a-boom-mishap-caused-by-operator-and-f-22-pilot-errors-investigation-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"KC-46A boom mishap caused by operator and F-22 pilot errors, investigation finds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A U.S. Air Force investigation found that incorrect manual control inputs by a KC-46A\u2019s boom operator, as well as a F-22A Raptor pilot not accounting for the other aircraft\u2019s \u201cstiff boom characteristics,\u201d led to last year\u2019s mishap in which the KC-46A\u2019s refueling boom was severely damaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On July 8, 2025, a KC-46A Pegasus refueling tanker had to conduct an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2025\/07\/14\/images-show-shredded-kc-46-boom-that-led-to-emergency-landing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\">emergency landing<\/a> after its refueling boom was damaged over the Atlantic Ocean when refueling a F-22A Raptor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During a breakaway, a \u201cnozzle binding event\u201d occurred and resulted in the air refueling boom striking the tail of the KC-46A and breaking off and falling into the ocean, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amc.af.mil\/News\/Article-Display\/Article\/4516088\/kc-46a-aircraft-accident-investigation-report-released\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\">release<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Air Mobility Command released a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.afjag.af.mil\/Portals\/77\/AIB-Reports\/2026\/Tab%202_%20AIB%20Report%20-%20TN%2017-6033_%20DoDID%20Redacted.pdf?ver=D9Tm1FTIpEprkuzk6t2Ouw%3d%3d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\">report<\/a> June 12 of the Accident Investigation Board\u2019s investigation into the mishap, which involved a KC-46A assigned to the 22nd Air Refueling Wing and an F-22A Raptor assigned to the 1st Fighter Wing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The report estimated nearly $10 million in damages to the KC-46A aircraft. There were no fatalities, injuries or damage to civilian property, the report says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The KC-46A was scheduled to conduct a training mission of aerial refuelings for seven F-22s on the day of the mishap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The AIB found two main causes of the accident. Primarily, a mistake with the boom operator\u2019s manual control inputs to the air refueling flight control stick resulted in an \u201cexcessively out of trim\u201d air refueling boom, which triggered a \u201cradical force\u201d to be applied to the refueling boom\u2019s nozzle. This caused the nozzle to be bound inside the receiver\u2019s air refueling receptacle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis subsequently produced an unrecoverable boom fly-up rate upon release from the receptacle, striking [the KC-46A] and causing a critical failure of the boom structure which then departed [the KC-46A] in flight,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"374\" height=\"499\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot_16-6-2026_165944_.jpeg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-112677\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot_16-6-2026_165944_.jpeg.jpg 374w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot_16-6-2026_165944_.jpeg.jpg?resize=225,300 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 374px) 100vw, 374px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The break point of the KC-46A&#8217;s boom. (U.S. Air Force)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Additionally, the failure of a F-22A pilot to account for the stiff boom caused an excessive closure rate and \u201csubstantially contributed to the mishap.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The boom operator was a qualified instructor with over 1,000 hours flying the KC-46A and KC-135, the release states. The F-22 pilot involved in the mishap was a student with 13 flight hours in the Raptor at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The two structural tubes of the boom were so stressed during the incident that they cracked and separated slightly forward of the U-Tail assembly, which caused the Aft end of the boom, along with the U-Tail and telescoping tube, to detach and fall into the ocean, the report reads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The separation caused all the wiring, hydraulic tubing and telescoping chains and cables to tear, leaving only a small portion of the chain to hang freely from the outer tube.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The report says that the KC-46A suffered damage to the APU access doors, exhaust, exhaust deflector and the aircraft\u2019s tail section.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An investigation found that a KC-46A&#8217;s emergency landing and refueling boom damage in July 2025 was mainly due to the operator&#8217;s incorrect control inputs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":112676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":67,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,16,26,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3418],"class_list":["post-81288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-air-force"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"PKLNUOOL5FFIXJHDWV3UMRKXW4","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2026\/06\/16\/kc-46a-boom-mishap-caused-by-operator-and-f-22-pilot-errors-investigation-finds\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>KC-46A boom mishap caused by operator and F-22 pilot errors, investigation finds - Air Force TImes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An investigation found that a KC-46A&#039;s emergency landing and refueling boom damage in July 2025 was mainly due to the operator&#039;s incorrect control inputs.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"KC-46A boom mishap caused by operator and F-22 pilot errors, investigation finds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An investigation found that a KC-46A&#039;s emergency landing and refueling boom damage in July 2025 was 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