A US Air Force fighter jet crashed during a training exercise at Eelson Air Force Base in Alaska on Tuesday. The pilot flying the single -sept F -35 fighter was safe after exiting. A video of the accident was widely posted on social media, where the aircraft can be seen descending vertically from the air and flipping before the crash.
A major explosion occurred after the accident, in which the fire was growing at a distance of several meters in the air. The pilot, who fired the aircraft on time, was seen landing on the ground with the help of a parachute.
Breaking: F-35 crashed in Alaska pic.twitter.com/zlqladwwbu
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According to a report by the Associated Press, the pilot experienced an “in-flight malfunction” and was able to evicted from the aircraft, the 354th fighter wing commander, the US Air Force Colonel Paul Townsend told a news conference.
The accident occurred while descending during a training exercise. According to Eielson Air Force Base, the F-35 Lightning II aircraft suffered a “significant loss” on Tuesday afternoon.
According to the statement, the pilot was safe and was taken to the Baset Army Hospital.
The F -35 is the most expensive US defense program and Lockheed Martin’s largest revenue generator, which contributes about 30 percent of its lower line. The fighter aircraft is known to fly more than 12 hours, which reaches almost anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere in the same flight.
Townsand said in a statement, “I can assure you that the United States Air Force will fully investigate in the hope of reducing such incidents again.”
This is not the first incident when an F -35 crashed in the US in the US. In May 2024, Los Angeles crashed after an F -35 fighter jet pilot stayed at New Mexico on the way to Edwards Air Force Base from Texas near Los Angeles. The pilot was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries.
In October 2024, a pilot was accused of getting out of an F -35 aircraft when he did not need, so that the fighter was asked to take out for 11 minutes before crashing in rural South Carolina in 2023. Was gone
The Pentagon is reportedly planned to spend more $ 1.7 trillion on the F-35 program, including purchasing 2,500 aircraft in the coming decades.
