Oxygen Problems on F-22 Elude the Air Force’s Fixes

well I wouldn't want to fly it; not above 14,000 ft MSL at least....nah; I hope they get it fixed because it seems like it would be a wonderful fighter and our nations current fleet is getting pretty old.

Hopefully the vest thing was the major problem and this most recent episode is something else and unrelated. As far as the F-22's cost, by the time the final tally is in on the
F-35, it may have it beat.

There is an emergency oxygen bottle built into the ejector seat, supposedly, but it has to be manually activated by the pilot in flight when he decides he needs it, or it is automatically activated when he ejects.

The problem is, the F22 was designed with an intelligent software controlled environmental and thermal management system, with such clever features as being able to automatically shut-off oxygen in the event that a leak is detected. (Presumably to prevent fire)
http://www.dailyhampshiregazette.com/2012/03/21/af-to-modify-f-22-following-fatal-crash

...but whoever wrote that line of code that automatically shuts off the oxygen system didn't think about the interim when the pilot has no oxygen at all, so they blame the pilot for not pulling the emergency handle quickly enough. Perhaps the emergency oxygen should have been automatic too?

Everything surrounding the F22 oxygen system debacle reads like a textbook of what not to do in systems engineering. I think maybe a few folks at Lockheed and Honeywell probably need to lose their jobs over this, and maybe even go to jail for gross negligence.

Sounds like a plausible theory on altitude but there is something in the story that says ground crewmen working in the cockpit on the ground were also getting sick as well.