WASHINGTON — A US Navy pilot is “safe” after their F-35 crashed near Naval Air Station Lemoore on Wednesday evening, according to a Navy spokesperson.
“NAS Lemoore can confirm an aviation incident on the Operations side of the installation. At around 6:30pm, an F-35C attached to the VFA-125 ‘Rough Raiders’ went down not far from NAS Lemoore. NAS Lemoore can confirm the pilot successfully ejected and is safe and there are no additional affected personnel,” a Navy spokesperson said in a statement.
Video shared by the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office showed a blazing fire amid a large cotton field north of NAS Lemoore as first responders rushed to the scene of the crash. The air station is located in central California, about 40 miles southwest of Fresno, and is home to VFA-125. A fleet replacement squadron, the Rough Raiders were stood up in 2017 to train new pilots and crew on the F-35C.
Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the single-seat, tri-variant stealth fighter, said in a statement that the company is “aware of the F-35 incident at Naval Air Station Lemoore. Safety is our priority, and we are standing by to support the United States Navy as needed.”
A spokesperson for the Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The cause of the crash in California is now under investigation, where it could take months, if not longer, to determine the cause of the mishap.
The carrier-capable F-35C involved in this incident is the second F-35 to crash this year. In January, a conventional takeoff and landing F-35A operated by the US Air Force crashed at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska. That pilot also ejected safely.
A short takeoff and vertical landing F-35B operated by the United Kingdom also had an embarrassing mishap in June when it reportedly became separated from its aircraft carrier in bad weather and had to divert to Thiruvananthapuram International Airport in the southern Indian state of Kerala. A subsequent engine issue then grounded the jet for over a month until British engineers could repair the aircraft, which departed July 22 after being mocked on social media, including by Kerala’s tourism arm.
The F-35 is operated by the US and has 19 international customers, though the jet suffers from disappointing readiness rates. Recently manufactured stealth fighters equipped with a comprehensive upgrade have also still not been cleared for combat by the Pentagon.
The F-35 program has additionally seen recent leadership changes in industry and government. For Lockheed, Chauncey McIntosh was installed as the company’s F-35 chief in January, whereas Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Greg Masiello took the reins of the Joint Program Office July 17.
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Author: Michael Marrow
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