F-35 Fighter Jet crashes in Alaska during training, Pilot ejects safely

The F-35 fighter jet crashed during a training session at the Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska on Tuesday. The fighter jet’s pilot immediately moved to safety after he bailed out of the aircraft.  

According to the information shared by the fighter jet’s pilot, the aircraft suffered an in-flight malfunction to which he immediately decided to eject himself out of the aircraft. The heart wrenching videos showed the aircraft experiencing a freefall from the sky, and bursting into flames when it touched the ground.  

Authorities stated that the aircraft was going to perform a landing after the training session, when the incident took place. The Eielson Air Force Base extended a statement in light of the incident, where they claimed that the incident resulted in ‘significant damage’ to the aircraft.  

The pilot was also transported to the Bassett Army Hospital, as soon as he landed safely. The US Air Force Colonel, Paul Townsend, while shedding light on the incident, assured the public that the US Air Force will conduct a thorough investigation to get to the exact cause of the incident and to prevent such incidents in future.  

Notably, the F-35 is one of the costliest US Defense Program, however since its inauguration, in the last two decades ago, 31 plane crashes have been reported so far.  

Elon Musk, the Tesla owner recently criticized the design of the aircraft as well calling it ‘outdated’ and ‘inefficient design’. He also called the F-35 program the worst military value for money in history and even suggested that the funds spent on it should go for a better investment, such as drone technology.  

The Eielson was selected as the destination to host 54 f-35s spawning and expansion in 2016. For this more than half billion dollars were allocated that included building 36 new buildings and dozens of housing units.  

It had the capability to fly more than 12 hours at a time and the aircraft can reach almost anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere in one mission.