An F-16 flies alongside a KC-46 Pegasus tanker as the aircraft refuels an F-22 Raptor over the Mojave Desert.
Courtesy photo
A routine aerial refueling mission last year turned into a nearly $10 million mishap after a tanker lost its entire refueling boom while attempting to refuel an F-22 Raptor.On July 8, 2025, a KC-46A Pegasus tanker and an F-22A Raptor were conducting refueling operations roughly 100 miles off the coast of Virginia when the tanker boom became stuck in the fighter's refueling receptacle, according to a new Air Force accident investigation released last week.A refueling boom is essentially a flying gas pump. It's a rigid, maneuverable tube that extends from a tanker and plugs into a receptacle on another aircraft to transfer fuel in flight.Unlike day-to-day fuel transfers on the ground from a gas station pump to a vehicle, these complex transfers take place in the air at hundreds of miles per hour and require the tanker pilots, boom operator, and the pilot of the receiving aircraft to keep both the boom and each aircraft in position and alignment.That didn't quite happen here. The boom nozzle got stuck and wouldn't come loose, triggering an emergency breakaway.About 5 seconds after the F-22 disconnected, the boom came free and whipped up into the tanker's tail, damaging the aircraft's tail cone and auxiliary power unit exhaust duct. The crew described the impact as a "loud noise, violent action" that made the KC-46 "bow wave several times" before the boom began swinging and ultimately broke away, plummeting into the sea below.No one was hurt, but the mishap caused $9,978,567 in damage to the refueling tanker.
