The pilot of an Air Force F-22A fighter that crashed in November 2010 was not at fault, the Defense Department Inspector General has determined. The ruling overturns a previous conclusion made by the Air Force Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AIB) that largely laid the blame with the pilot. The board had concluded that the pilot paid inadequate attention to his tasks at hand, lost awareness of his visual surroundings, and was beset by “unrecognized spatial disorientation.” The IG’s review of the ruling faulted the board for not explaining how the factors could be interrelated. The board also did not weigh “human factors” such as hypoxia, loss of consciousness due to gravity, and sudden incapacitation, the IG concluded. The Air Force board also fell short in assessing the effectiveness of the aircraft’s emergency oxygen system, and the pilot’s reactions to the lack of oxygen. The Air Force acknowledged that the IG did point out some areas where the board’s report could have been written more clearly. But the service stuck to its findings, saying they were “supported by clear and convincing evidence.” The IG countered that the board still fell short of meeting the thresholds necessary to support the contention that the crash was the pilot’s fault. The pilot, Capt. Jeffrey Haney, died when the aircraft crashed in the Alaskan wilderness.