A U.S. Navy F-35 fighter jet crashed Wednesday morning near Naval Air Station Lemoore in central California. According to a Navy statement, the pilot successfully ejected and is in stable condition. No other personnel were injured in the incident.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation, and the Navy has not yet disclosed the purpose of the flight at the time of the accident.
This marks the second F-35 crash of the year and adds to growing concerns over the aircraft’s safety record. The F-35, which carries an estimated price tag of $100 million per unit, has now been involved in at least 12 crashes since 2018. In the most recent prior incident, an F-35 went down in Alaska in late January, according to data compiled by Anadolu.
The latest accident comes amid renewed scrutiny of the F-35 program’s cost and performance. A U.S. government report cited by Times Now Digital found the aircraft continues to fall short of key benchmarks. According to the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, the F-35 fleet met mission-readiness requirements only 51% of the time—well below the 65% goal set in its original operational requirements.
The F-35 is beginning to sound like an expensive flop of a fighter. They tried to make the jet do everything and now it does nothing well. Whereas the F-15 is still a remarkable performer decades later.
Amelia, it’s a minor squawk and I have never had the opportunity myself, but I wish to suggest an edit to whatever style guide exists regarding use of the words “eject” and “safely” in proximity. IMHO, nobody has ever ejected safely. They survived ejection uninjured, perhaps. And someone on this forum will point out how safe US ejection systems are (relative to other places), which is true, as ejections systems go. But, no, lighting a rocket tied to your buttocks is never a safe thing to do. Sometimes, it is slightly less hazardous than whatever alternative the crew is left with, which is often quite dire.
Survived ejection uninjured. Or something a bit less sanguine than “safely.”