Procedural Failures, Poor Supervision Led to F-22 Maintainer Death: Report

An Air Force maintenance team in Alaska failed to follow “prescribed procedures” while working on an F-22 weapons bay, leading to a mishap March 25, 2024 that killed Staff Sgt. Charles A. Crumlett, according to a recent accident investigation report.

Cumlett’s head was still inside the weapons bay when the configurable rail launcher retracted, resulting in “fatal head trauma” to the 25-year-old member of the 90th Fighter Generation Wing at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, the report—released Dec. 29—stated.

Trumlett, who had experience as a maintainer for the A-10 Thunderbolt II and the F-15 Eagle, had only completed academic training on the F-22 and was working on a six-member maintenance team to gain hands-on training on the day of the incident, according to the report. The team was making adjustments to the right CRL, a system that holds the AIM-9 Sidewinder missile inside the weapons bay until ready to launch.

Just before the accident occurred, Trumlett made an adjustment to the right CRL aft restraint fitting while two team members observed. The team stepped back from the right side of the aircraft and the maintenance team lead gave a “thumbs up gesture” before walking to the cockpit ladder, located on the left side of the aircraft, the report states.

At this point, communication among team members began to break down, the report states.

One team member directed Trumlett and another team member to approach the weapons bay to replace the CRL lock pins. At the same time, the maintenance chief climbed up the cockpit ladder and retracted the right CRL, using the multi-functional display inside the cockpit. Trumlett’s “head was impinged between the plume deflector and the bulkhead, causing fatal head trauma,” the report states.

The 32-page investigation report does not identify the team members involved in the accident, but shortly after the March 15, 2024 incident, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson identified Trumlett, a native of Streamwood, Ill., as the victim in the fatal workplace incident, according to a March 18, 2024, Air Force statement.

The investigation found that the maintenance chief did not follow standard procedure which is to use the portable maintenance aid, or PMA, to retract the CRL, which would have allowed chief to clearly observe the right side of the aircraft, the report states.

“There is no line-of-sight between the cockpit ladder and the right-side weapons bay,” the report states. “The maintenance team chief retracted the CRL when all personnel were not clear.”

The investigation also found that there was a failure to maintain supervisory direction. The team started out working together in a “coordinated manner with clear signaling,” the report states. But during the incident task, that atmosphere began to erode with the team lead “making motion to accomplish one task while the remainder of the group—directed by [another team member]—worked a different and conflicting task,” placing Trumlett into a position to be fatally injured, the report states.

“Team cohesion appeared to degrade throughout the maintenance task,” according to the report.

The team had not performed this particular maintenance procedure enough in the past to develop proficiency, the report concluded, adding that Trumlett and two other team members were in training.

Investigators also determined that the there was a “false sense of security engendered by an incorrect belief on the scope of function of the safe switch for the side weapons bay,” the report states.

“It seems widely believed that the ‘safe switch’ inactivates the operation of both the bay doors as well as the CRL itself when it specifically only secures the doors,” the report states. “This could engender an inaccurate sense of security in a maintainer and prompt them to take an unwarranted risk.”

Trumlett joined the Air Force on Nov. 29, 2016. After completing Basic Military Training, he trained at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, to become a weapons load crew member. From there, Crumlett served at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., until he arrived at JBER on Feb. 4, 2024. During his service, Crumlett was awarded two Air and Space Commendation Medals and an Air Force Achievement Medal.