The report found that the two-step process to manually activate the system required the pilot to pull the green ring up and out of the retaining slot and then pull it directly forward. The Air Force says the latter move may have the same force as pulling a 40- or more pound weight.

While the ring is attached to the seat by a lanyard, if it is dropped it can fall between the seats, making it difficult to retrieve, especially if the pilot is flying at night and wearing bulky winter clothing.

The problem with the system was identified by an independent scientific advisory board that studied the jet’s safety issues. It was identified as one of the critical items to be fixed, according to public affairs at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, which came up with the new, safer handles.

The modification makes it easier for the pilot to access the handle, the military says. The Air Force has ordered 200 handles at a cost of $47 each. They have already been installed in Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson’s 40 F-22s, the Anchorage base that Haney, 31, was attempting to return to when he crashed during a night-time training mission.

The new handles also provide a better grip, especially when the pilot is wearing cold weather gear, according to information provided by Luke Air Force Base.

Haney’s widow has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Lockheed Martin Corp. that claims the plane’s onboard oxygen delivery system, among other things, is defective. The lawsuit also says the mechanism for activating the emergency backup oxygen system is underneath and behind the pilot and impossible to reach while flying at supersonic speeds.

The lawsuit says the Lockheed Martin plane “did not safely or properly provide breathable oxygen to the pilot operating the aircraft.”

Investigators found that the on-board oxygen generating system on Haney’s plane automatically stopped working after air leaks were detected in the ducts of both engines. The report says airflow would have stopped to the pilot’s mask, causing severe restricted breathing. But, it says, that instead of activating the emergency oxygen system, Haney focused on restoring airflow to the mask and keeping the plane from taking a dive.

The report says that Haney’s death was not hypoxia-related because he was conscious while struggling with the plane and never activated the emergency oxygen system.

Haney’s death was tragic and the company sympathizes with the family, Lockheed Martin spokeswoman Stephanie Stinn said Tuesday.

“We are aware that a complaint that makes a variety of claims associated with the accident has been filed with the court in Cook County, IL. We do not agree with those allegations and we will respond to them through the appropriate legal process,” she said in an email.

The Air Force’s entire fleet was placed on temporary stand-down last summer and an investigation ensued after numerous pilots reported lightheadedness and other symptoms consistent with not receiving enough oxygen. The planes were returned to service in mid-September, but there have been more reports of hypoxia-like events.

Three F-22 pilots at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson experienced “physiological incidents” in February, said base spokeswoman Corinna M. Jones. In each case, the pilot activated the plane’s emergency oxygen system, she said.

John Noonan, a spokesman for Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said that the chairman is still looking for a “smoking gun” to explain what could be problems with the Raptor’s oxygen delivery system.

“They are modifying some aircraft with environmental monitors and they have other pilots wearing O2 sensors,” Noonan said in an email.

He said baseline blood work has been done of every pilot flying the F-22s “so if they do come back after an oxygen incident, they might be able to see what’s changed in that particular pilot.”

Besides the Anchorage base, the remainder of the nation’s 170 F-22 Raptors are stationed at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii; Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va.; Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.; Holloman Air Force Base, N.M.; and Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla.

On Sunday, workers spent the morning walking around the vessel and checking the ice to make sure it was safe to lay the hose, which will take about four hours, said Jason Evans, board chairman of the Sitnasuak Native Corp.

With the tanker and the Coast Guard ice breaker sitting just offshore and poised to deliver the fuel, Evans said the bulk of the mission’s biggest challenges were behind the crew, but a lot of work remained.

Still, the final job of transferring fuel from the ship to the town comes with its own hurdles: In addition to waiting for the ice to freeze, crews must begin the transfer in daylight, a state mandate. And Nome has just five hours of daylight this time of year.

“In theory, it was possible and in reality, it now is done,” Evans said of the journey.

A storm prevented Nome’s 3,500 residents from getting a fuel delivery by barge in November. Without the tanker delivery, supplies of diesel fuel, gasoline and home heating fuel were expected to run out in March and April, well before a barge delivery again in late May or June.

The especially harsh winter has left snow piled up 10 feet or higher against the wood-sided buildings in Nome, a former gold rush town that is the final stop on the Iditarod dog sled race. On Sunday, everything was covered in a layer of wind-blown snow and vehicles looked frozen in place, as though they haven’t been moved in weeks.

The tanker began its journey from Russia in mid-December, picking up diesel fuel in South Korea before heading to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, where it took on unleaded gasoline. Late Thursday, the vessels stopped offshore and began planning the transfer to Nome, more than 500 miles from Anchorage on Alaska’s west coast.

In total, the tanker traveled an estimated 5,000 miles going from Russia to South Korea, then toward Japan and to Dutch Harbor and Nome, said Rear Adm. Thomas Ostebo, commander of District Seventeen with the Coast Guard.

Despite the complicated logistics of delivering fuel by sea in winter, Sitnasuak opted for the extra delivery after determining that it would be much less costly and more practical than flying fuel to Nome.

Mark Smith, CEO of Vitus Marine LLC, the fuel supplier that arranged to have the Russian tanker and its crew deliver the fuel, described the challenges as substantial, partly because winter has been especially harsh in the region this year. He said that moving the tanker even with the help of the cutter through more than 300 miles of pack-ice was a “very profound obstacle.”

“It seems that every day brought a new crisis,” he said.

Opinion appeared to be divided in Nome, where some welcomed the arrival of the tanker and others thought it was a manufactured and unnecessary crisis.

Cari Miller was among the residents unconvinced a real crisis was at hand. The 43-year-old mother, who has lived in Nome for eight years, said she believed that another fuel provider in town had plenty of fuel for the community.

“We do not have a fuel crisis,” she said. “It wasn’t necessary.”

Kwan Yi, 40, a maintenance worker at the Polaris Bar in Nome, faulted Sitnasuak for not arranging for barge delivery earlier last fall, but said he believed the town was in need of fuel. He said he was pleased the fuel tanker had arrived after struggling with frozen pipes and gas leaks.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who flew to Nome on Sunday, said the town’s ordeal had captured the world’s attention as it displayed a reality of Alaska life.

“This is real. This is what we deal with,” the senator said, while making an appeal for more resource to be placed in the Arctic.

The crew of the 370-foot tanker Renda was working to ensure safety in the transfer of the fuel through the segmented hose, Coast Guard spokesman Kip Wadlow said in a telephone interview from Nome on Saturday night.

Once crews created a suitable path for the hose to rest on, its segments were to be bolted together and inspected before the fuel can begin to flow.

Though the transfer must start during daylight, it can continue in darkness, Betty Schorr of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation has said. It could be finished within 36 hours if everything goes smoothly, but it could take as long as five days, she said.

Evans said once the hose is laid, personnel will walk its entire length every 30 minutes to check for leaks. Each segment of hose will have its own spill containment area, and extra absorbent boom will be on hand in case of a spill.

Evans, however, cautioned that delivering the fuel is only half the mission.

“The ships need to transition back through 300 miles of ice,” he said. “I say we’re not done until the ships are safely back at their home ports” in Seattle and Russia.

The tanker is bound for Nome, a town of 3,500 residents that missed its final pre-winter delivery of fuel by barge when a big storm swept the region last fall. Without the delivery of 1.3 million gallons, the city could run short of fuel before a barge delivery becomes possible in late spring.

Researchers were using the 2.5-pound drone to provide a large picture of the ice in hopes of guiding the tanker as close to shore as possible, said Greg Walker, unmanned aircraft program manager for the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute.

The Healy, the Coast Guard’s only functioning icebreaker, has been accompanying the 370-foot tanker through the Bering Sea.

Progress was stalled by thick ice and strong ocean currents Tuesday. The vessels made nine miles but drifted with the ice while at rest for a total gain of just six miles, Coast Guard spokesman David Mosley said.

Ice conditions remained tough Wednesday. The Coast Guard said the two vessels were in densely concentrated ice about 100 miles from Nome by mid-afternoon.

“The way it’s been described to me, ice breaking is a mission in patience. You take the miles as they come,” Mosley said.

Meanwhile, a researcher assisting in the mission has discovered a 25-foot ice pressure ridge at the entrance to the Nome’s harbor.

The pressure ridges are created when the pack ice from offshore pushes against the stationary shore ice, creating thick ridges somewhat like icebergs, scientists said.

The top of the ridge sits about 5 feet above the frozen surface but the rest extends well down into the ocean, the Geophysical Institute’s Andy Mahoney said. The ridge is too big to get past, but it shouldn’t prevent the tanker from offloading its fuel through its mile long hose.

Pictures from the drone will be used to figure out the best way to lay the hose.

As the tanker approaches Nome, the pressure ridges actually might come in handy as they are natural fault lines, Walker said. If the tanker can break the ice away from the ridges, it could open up a pathway.

___

Online:

Healy webcam: http://bit.ly/wEsemi

The tanker is bound for Nome, a town of 3,500 residents that missed its final pre-winter delivery of fuel by barge when a big storm swept the region last fall. Without the delivery of 1.3 million gallons, the city could run short of fuel before a barge delivery becomes possible in late spring.

Researchers were using the 2.5-pound drone to provide a large picture of the ice in hopes of guiding the tanker as close to shore as possible, said Greg Walker, unmanned aircraft program manager for the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute.

The Healy, the Coast Guard’s only functioning icebreaker, has been accompanying the 370-foot tanker through the Bering Sea.

Progress was stalled by thick ice and strong ocean currents on Tuesday. The vessels made nine miles but drifted with the ice while at rest for a total gain of just six miles, Coast Guard spokesman David Mosley said.

Ice conditions were slightly improved on Wednesday. The Coast Guard said the two vessels were in densely concentrated ice about 95 miles from Nome.

Meanwhile, a researcher assisting in the mission has discovered a 25-foot ice pressure ridge at the entrance to the Nome’s harbor.

The pressure ridges are created when the pack ice from offshore pushes against the stationary shore ice, creating thick ridges somewhat like icebergs, scientists said.

The top of the ridge sits about 5 feet above the frozen surface but the rest extends well down into the ocean, the Geophysical Institute’s Andy Mahoney said. The ridge is too big to get past but it shouldn’t prevent the tanker from offloading its fuel through its mile long hose.

Pictures from the drone will be used to figure out the best way to lay the hose.

As the tanker approaches Nome, the pressure ridges actually might come in handy as they are natural fault lines, Walker said. If the tanker can break the ice away from the ridges, it could open up a pathway.

___

Online:

Healy webcam: http://bit.ly/wEsemi

The tanker is bound for Nome, a town of 3,500 residents that missed its final pre-winter delivery of fuel by barge when a big storm swept the region last fall. Without the delivery of 1.3 million gallons, the city could run short of fuel before a barge delivery becomes possible in late spring.

Researchers were using the 2.5-pound drone to provide a large picture of the ice in hopes of guiding the tanker as close to shore as possible, said Greg Walker, unmanned aircraft program manager for the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute.

The Healy, the Coast Guard’s only functioning icebreaker, has been accompanying the 370-foot tanker through the Bering Sea.

Progress was stalled by thick ice and strong ocean currents on Tuesday. The vessels made nine miles but drifted with the ice while at rest for a total gain of just six miles, Coast Guard spokesman David Mosley said.

Ice conditions were slightly improved on Wednesday. The Coast Guard said the two vessels were in densely concentrated ice about 95 miles from Nome.

Meanwhile, a researcher assisting in the mission has discovered a 25-foot ice pressure ridge at the entrance to the Nome’s harbor.

The pressure ridges are created when the pack ice from offshore pushes against the stationary shore ice, creating thick ridges somewhat like icebergs, scientists said.

The top of the ridge sits about 5 feet above the frozen surface but the rest extends well down into the ocean, the Geophysical Institute’s Andy Mahoney said. The ridge is too big to get past but it shouldn’t prevent the tanker from offloading its fuel through its mile long hose.

Pictures from the drone will be used to figure out the best way to lay the hose.

As the tanker approaches Nome, the pressure ridges actually might come in handy as they are natural fault lines, Walker said. If the tanker can break the ice away from the ridges, it could open up a pathway.

___

Online:

Healy webcam: http://bit.ly/wEsemi