Quite sad - almost as bad as the F-22 that went down last week.
Chinese manufacture grade parts or maintenance screw up? Do we need the answers? Do we want the answers?
Hopefully there’s no trend here. Even in peace time, military operations can be very dangerous.
Training adds an element of this also.
Along the way to becoming competent in an aircraft you first start in the incompetent stage. Things can go wrong during this transition.
IF the F-35 was destroyed? If the pilot ejected the jet definitely didn’t land safely. I saw an F-105 Thunder Chief crash two blocks from my grade school in Vegas in 64. The pilot stayed with the jet and his last words were “I can’t hit the school”. I was so close I saw him go into crash position. Unfortunately it was a huge fireball and they had the whole neighborhood closed off looking for unexploded munitions for months. The pilot was a hero.
Military aviation is an inherently risky endeavor. Sometimes the jet is the problem, sometimes the pilot is the problem, and I suppose we’ll see which was the cause of this crash. The jet can be replaced, the pilot cannot. Glad he got out in time.
There will be new job openings firings coming.
I’d like at the Chinese hackers.
Sounds like mainenance.
Do the F22’s have a bunch of Chinese Computers on board?
One of the reasons I love to take vacation in Ft. Walton Beach (besides the white sand and emerald water) is that there is often an air show of sorts with the variety of aircraft seen over the area.
I have been told that F-35 pilots have to eject through the canopy.
Active Duty ping.