It's not every day that you film $80M fighter jets falling out of the sky, but that's what happened in Alaska on Tuesday

Not The Bee ^ | January 29, 2025 | Staff

[Red Badger]

Thankfully not the sort of thing you see every day:

VIDEOS AT LINK..................

That's what it looks like when 20,000 pounds of fuel blows up in one go:

Thankfully, the pilot got out okay:

A U.S. Air Force pilot was reported to be safe after a single-seat F-35 fighter jet crashed Tuesday during a training exercise at a base in Alaska.

The pilot experienced an 'inflight malfunction' but was able to eject from the aircraft, Col. Paul Townsend, commander of the 354th Fighter Wing, told a news conference. The plane crashed during the landing phase of the flight at Eielson Air Force Base, he said.

The massive air force base near Fairbanks hosts dozens of F-35s at a sprawling facility that includes thousands of servicemembers.

Here's maybe the oddest part:

The crash, which occurred early Tuesday afternoon, caused significant damage to the aircraft, the Air Force said in a statement.

"Significant damage?" Pretty sure that sucker just blew right up.

(The F-35 costs between $80 and $110 million PER aircraft, not including the heavy maintenance requirements that routinely keeps half our F-35 fleet grounded.)

Unfortunately, this does happen from time to time:

Yikes!

[Red Badger]

F-35 Ping!....................

[Vermont Lt]

Gravity apparently still works. I am glad the pilot was able to eject safely.

[CivilWarBrewing]

"the pilot, the pilot, the pilot.."

Woman driver?

[FlingWingFlyer]

...caused significant damage to the aircraft, the Air Force said in a statement.

Ya think?

[Red Badger]

I thought that it was rather odd to see a plane just falling like a rock...................

[ComputerGuy]

...an 'inflight malfunction'...

Air Force speak for 'The pilot royally screwed up'.

[SaveFerris]

(...caused significant damage to the aircraft, the Air Force said in a statement.)

No way!!!

[uranium penguin]

...an ‘inflight malfunction’...

anything that is not likely to “buff out”

[Telepathic Intruder]

Tiny burnt little pieces sort of damage.

[shadeaud]

It should buff right out

[Red Badger]

“Gee, I wonder what this button does?”.................OOPS!.................

[shotgun]

While working at the end of the runway on the Klamath Falls Airport, I witnessed an Oregon Air National Guard F-15 stall and drop like a rock during it’s landing approach.

Me and the construction crew were directly underneath the plane and thought for a moment that this was it. I don’t know how the pilot recovered, other than slamming the engines on full, but it scared the $#!+ out of us! I’m sure he needed a shower when he got back to the hangar.

[Vermont Lt]

80 years ago they glided a bit when the engines stopped. I guess they engineered that out of the new ones. LOL

[Red Badger]

Glide Ratio: 0:1...............

[Bob434]

Just a scratch, it’ll buff right out

[Damifino]

"the pilot, the pilot, the pilot.."

Admittedly I did not read the entire report but "inflight malfunction" does not eliminate a mechanical/system failure as a possible cause.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

If only the plane could hover./s

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Oopsy.

[Sequoyah101]

Looks like most rocks have a glide ratio better than that airplane.

I wonder what percentage of them are actually fit for service?