America Just Lost Another F-35 Over Alaska
With Tuesday’s incident, a dozen F-35s have been completely destroyed following in-flight mishaps.
A United States Air Force F-35A Lightning II suffered an “inflight malfunction” on Tuesday afternoon at Eielson Air Force Base (AFB), Alaska, forcing the pilot to eject from the aircraft. According to an official statement, the Lightning II crashed just before 1 pm local (5 pm EST) yesterday, “within the fence line” of the base.
The pilot was reported to be uninjured but was transported to Bassett Army Hospital “for further evaluation.”
“Our people are our most important resource, and we are committed in ensuring their safety and security,” said Colonel Paul Townsend, commander of the 354th Fighter Wing. “I can assure you the United States Air Force will conduct a thorough investigation into this incident to minimize the chances of such occurrences from happening again.”
The base further advised locals not to stop near the base as it could impede recovery efforts, while it noted that federal law prohibits any photography along Richardson Highway adjacent to the base. Despite that warning, a video of the jet crashing to the ground has made the rounds on social media. The pilot could be seen parachuting to the ground, while the fifth-generation stealth fighter’s landing gear was deployed as it fell out of the sky and exploded upon impact with the ground.
Not the First Accident
The cause of the crash is under investigation, but this is only the latest mishap involving the Lightning II. Last May, an F-35B—the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the Joint Strike Fighter—crashed near Albuquerque, New Mexico, during a flight from Fort Worth to Edwards AFB, destroying the $135 million aircraft. Fortunately, the pilot also survived.
These incidents followed a 2023 accident involving a United States Marine Corps F-35B that went down in rural South Carolina. And in June 2024, a Japanese F-35 was forced to make an emergency landing at a commercial airport.
The New Mexico incident last year marked the 30th crash involving the F-35, and it raised ongoing concerns about the fighter’s cost and maintenance issues. With Tuesday’s incident, a dozen F-35s have been completely destroyed following in-flight mishaps. The remaining F-35s have either been returned to service, or in some cases successfully refurbished for use as training aids for maintainers and ground crews.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) warned following the South Carolina crash that maintenance delays continue to plague the program—with the aircraft only able to perform 55% of the time, while the goal is 85 to 90% of the time. Much of the program cost is on maintaining and operating the jets.
The F-35 and Eielson
According to a report from the Anchorage Daily News, there were 54 F-35A aircraft—the conventional takeoff and landing variant that is operated by the U.S. Air Force—stationed at the base. Eielson is about 25 miles southeast of Fairbanks, and it was selected to host the Lightning II in 2016. It has operated the aircraft since April 2020 when the first two aircraft arrived, while the last of the fifth-generation all-weather multirole stealth fighters were deployed to the base two years later in April 2022.
The deployment of the F-35 saw the size of Eielson increase by nearly 50%, and the newspaper previously reported that it resulted in a “population jump” for the Fairbanks area. More than a half-billion dollars was invested in the facility’s infrastructure, which included “36 new buildings and dozens of housing units,” according to the Associated Press. This expansion included about 3,500 new active duty airmen, as well as their families.
Tuesday’s crash is now under investigation, and further developments are likely to emerge.
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
