New Delhi: A US Air Force F-35 fighter jet crashed during a training exercise at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska on Tuesday, though the pilot managed to safely eject. The single-seat aircraft was seen in widely circulated social media footage plummeting vertically before flipping and crashing, followed by a large explosion with flames rising high into the air, according to a report from the Associated Press.
The pilot, who was unharmed, successfully ejected from the aircraft and was seen descending via parachute. The US Air Force reported that the pilot experienced an “in-flight malfunction,” prompting the ejection, according to Colonel Paul Townsend, commander of the 354th Fighter Wing. The incident occurred during landing while the aircraft was engaged in a training exercise.
BREAKING: F-35 has crashed in Alaska pic.twitter.com/ZLqlADWWbU
— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) January 29, 2025
Eielson Air Force Base confirmed that the crash caused “significant damage” to the F-35 Lightning II aircraft. The pilot was taken to Bassett Army Hospital as a precaution but was reported to be safe.
The F-35, the most expensive US defence program, is a major revenue source for Lockheed Martin, contributing about 30 per cent to its bottom line. This incident is not the first of its kind; in May 2024, an F-35 crashed in New Mexico after refuelling, seriously injuring the pilot. In a separate 2023 incident, a pilot was accused of ejecting unnecessarily, leading to the jet flying unmanned before crashing.
“I can assure you the United States Air Force will conduct a thorough investigation in hopes to minimize the chances of such occurrences from happening again,” Townsend said in the statement.
The United States Air Force has pledged to conduct a thorough investigation to understand the cause of the crash and prevent future incidents. The Pentagon is planning to invest an additional 1.7 trillion dollars in the F-35 program, aiming to acquire 2,500 planes in the coming years.
