An F-35 fighter jet accidentally crashed while trying to land at the Eglin Air Force Base located in Florida, this Tuesday evening, May 19, at around 9:30 p.m., with the pilot successfully able to eject.
The F-35 Fighter Jet Accident
According to a Newsweek report, the fighter jet in question is an F-35A Lightning II assigned to the 58th Fighter Squadron.
The Eglin AFB confirmed the news via their official Twitter account, where they updated their followers in a series of tweets, saying that the pilot was able to eject successfully from the aircraft and was brought to the 96th Medical Group for monitoring and evaluation by the first responders that were on the scene.
The pilot, who is not being identified at the moment, is now in a stable condition.
The air force also confirmed that no civilian life nor property was lost or damaged because of the accident.
As of writing, there are still no other updates regarding the F-35 accident that recently occurred.
This comes merely days after another fighter jet crash-landed on the air base.
Just Days After the F-22 Crash
According to the news outlet, an F-22 jet that was assigned to the 43rd Fighter Squadron, which is part of the 325th Fighter Wing that is currently based at Eglin, also crashed on Friday, May 15 at around 9:15 a.m.
The F-22 pilot, who is not being named and is in a stable condition, was also safely able to eject from the aircraft and was also brought to the 96th Medical Group.
Eglin AFB also said that the F-22 jet was also participating in a routine training flight when the incident happened.
More Details on the F-22 Incident
A spokesperson for the air force base also confirmed that the aircraft debris is yet to be removed, but they are already investigating the incident.
"The interim safety investigation board is in control of the crash scene and will not move the debris until they can ensure all evidence is preserved to assist in establishing the cause of the accident," the spokesperson said in an email, according to the Northwest Florida Daily News.
In addition, the air force noted in the email that they don't know yet where the aircraft debris will be stored.
While the F-22 is equipped with a black box, a flight recorder that stores the information about the jet's trajectory and other details about the crash, the Eglin Air Force Base did not comment whether they have retrieved it or not.
But they did assure the public that there are no live munitions that were aboard the F-22 when it crashed.
Nevertheless, they assured that the safety investigation board is also looking into the accident and are currently collecting any evidence they can find to understand what happened to the fighter jets and to prevent them from further happening in the future.
However, any report by the safety investigation board will not be released to the public, unlike the accident investigation board, another panel that will investigate the accidents.
According to them, they will provide "releasable information on the crash" in the future when it's available.
