According to anonymous sources close to the Pentagon the F-117
stealth fighter was not brought by a Yugoslav anti-aircraft missile. It fell
victim to a crash of its on-board computer. That particular plane was
one of eight experimental planes whose computer was running on
Windows CE operating system. According to the pilot, he was returning
back to base when he heard a familiar taah-tahm tune. The sound was
very familiar but definitely did not belong to the cockpit environment. A
second later the pilot realized where he heard it so many times before.
It was a sound of Window shutting down. Another second later the
computer screen turned black and the plane began behaving
erratically. The pilot attempted to reboot the computer while trying to
keep the jet flying. The plane was barely responding to the controls -- a
behavior expected from a "fly-by-wire" aircraft.
Unlike conventional planes that can be flown manually F-117 needs
the computer just to maintain the straight course. If the on-board
computer of F-117 is turned off the plane becomes aerodynamically
unstable and even the best pilot cannot control it. Indeed, Windows
were still loading when the jet began rapidly changing pitch angle,
steeply climbing up and then plunging down. In a few seconds of a wild
ride the wings began to flatter and eventually the right wing fractured
and separated from the fuselage. The pilot hit eject button.
Though the Pentagon declined to comment the evidence points to the
allegations to be true. Air combat command grounded the remaining
seven jets from the experimental Windows CE group immediately after
the incident. According to an airforce technician at Aviano air base in
Italy who spoke on condition of anonymity the airforce engineers
believe that it was the recently discovered "50 days" glitch that brought
down the plane.
It was recently reported that Windows 98 crashes after 49.7 days of
uninterrupted work because of the timer buffer overflow. Apparently,
the same glitch was present in the version of Windows CE used in the
crashed F-117. Indeed, the flying log shows that the plane was in
continuos operation for 50 days. The 2 months preceding the crash the
plane was used very extensively. It was never used so extensively
before. Even when the plane was grounded for express maintenance
and refueling the computer was not powered down.
Switching eight stealth fighters to Windows CE was a part of broader
strategy by the Pentagon to control costs by relying on already
developed civilian technology and off-the-shelf components. A similar
mishap happened a couple of years ago when Windows NT crashed
and paralyzed a Navy battleship for 2 hours. It is expected that senior
Pentagon officials would hold a news conference on the 1st of April to
announce whether or not the U.S. armed forces will continue relying on
Windows operating system.
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