An abundance of caution likely motivated the U.S. Air Force to launch investigations into the oxygen-generation systems found on board a number of fighter and trainer aircraft, analysts said. “When you get to life-support systems, that is something the Air Force and any service tends to take a very hard line with,” said Mark Gunzinger, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington and a former Air Force pilot.“They are very, very cautious and risk-averse because we’re not just dealing with the loss of a major weapon system, but the loss of a human life,” he said/…/“They want to be doubly sure that the problems that they are experiencing with the F-22 OBOGS is not something that could be common to other systems and other aircraft,” Gunzinger said. “It’s something that’s very, very prudent, and a very smart thing to do.”If the Air Force had specific information on a particular problem, the aircraft in question would be grounded, Gunzinger said.
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