Posted on 12/16/2022 7:03:24 AM PST by Red Badger
A pilot ejected from a Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II fighter jet Thursday morning at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth, Texas, during a botched landing.
“We are aware of the F-35B crash on the shared runway at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth,” a Lockheed spokesman said, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “Safety is our priority, and we will follow appropriate investigation protocol.”
VIDEO AT LINK...............
The video of the incident shows the F-35B hovering, then touching down, then elevating again, and tipping forward. Its wheels seem to collapse underneath the aircraft and damage the front of the plane. After the plane spun 180 degrees and back, the pilot ejected.
The Defense Department and Lockheed Martin contacted White Settlement police at about 10:15 a.m., the Star-Telegram reported. Police said there were no fire reports. The pilot “landed apparently without injury,” according to CBS DFW.
The Lockheed Martin plant in Fort Worth is next to the military base, where the company tests the F-35. The Marine Corps operates the F-35B and can take off in a short distance and land like a helicopter, the outlet reported.
"...At the Pentagon, a spokesman said that the aircraft was being flown at the time of the crash by a US government pilot, although it had not been transferred to the military yet by manufacturer Lockheed Martin...."
So he probably was either a test/evaluation pilot, or possibly a ferry pilot, or both. In any case, it wasn't a Marine.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-f-35-pilot-ejects-from-fighter-jet-in-texas-in-failed-landing/
I'm sure his decision will be heavily scrutinized (secondary to the crash itself). It's possible he had a fire warning or some other indication that caused him to punch out. Or it might have just been a poor decision. I'm glad he walked away from it.
Main nozzle in the image above is in the forward flight position.
Here's a detailed image of the engine and associated ductwork prior to installation (too large to post here, and too large for my usual image host to make a thumbnail of it):
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/F-35B_STOVL_Engine_and_Lift_Fan.JPG
Thew main duct is in the vertical lift position and the opposite (right) side roll nozzle ductwork is hidden by the driveshaft.
That sure was a rather hard landing, no wonder he bounced.
AV-8 landings seem a lot more soft. He might have screwed up the flight control system with the bounce takeoff?
Broken neck sucks too.
It wasn’t a poor decision. That was SOP.
Somewhere John McStain is smiling
Good video of just how violent ejection is.
No wonder so many guys get messed up from it.
Just before touch down there is white puff of smoke which likely is hydraulic or leak or failure and possibly for fan drive shaft. The hard touchdown may be related and pilot may have throttled up for missed approach landing, but the from fan failed and the imbalanced lift thrust from rear pitched the jet up from the rear and caused the nose gear to fail. After spinning around on the ground still at landing thrust because the jet is weight on wheels the lifting fan door begins to close. Because the engine is still at a high thrust level with the rear nozzle in landing configuration, when the fan door began to close the F-35 automatically ejected the pilot.
” the F-35 automatically ejected the pilot.”
No warning? That would suck, not being able to get in position first.
better late than never
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