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List of accidents and incidents involving the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

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A U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II in flight.

Operations of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II family began in 1995 with the Joint Strike Fighter program. Since its first flight in 2006, the aircraft has faced substantial controversy, shortages in its research and development supply, and safety concerns due to incidents. Some deem it as safe in comparison to other military aircraft.

This list is of accidents and incidents involving an F-35 resulting in loss of life, severe injuries, or loss of an aircraft (damaged beyond repair). Incidents in which the aircraft was damaged but repaired are not included.

Before 2020

2014

  • On 23 June 2014, an F-35A's engine caught fire at Eglin AFB. The pilot escaped unharmed, while the aircraft sustained an estimated US$50 million in damage. The Air Force halted F-35 flights on 3 July and resumed them on 15 July with flight envelope restrictions. In June 2015, the USAF Air Education and Training Command (AETC)'s official report attributed the failure to the third-stage rotor of the engine's fan module, pieces of which cut through the fan case and upper fuselage. Pratt & Whitney applied an extended "rub-in" to increase the gap between the second stator and the third rotor integral arm seal, as well as design alterations to pre-trench the stator by early 2016.

2018

  • On 28 September 2018, the first F-35 crash occurred. A USMC F-35B crashed near Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina, and the pilot ejected safely. The crash was attributed to a faulty fuel tube; all F-35s were grounded on 11 October pending a fleet-wide inspection of the tubes. The next day, most USAF and USN F-35s returned to flight status following the inspection.

2019

  • On 9 April 2019, a JASDF F-35A attached to Misawa Air Base crashed east of the Aomori Prefecture during a training mission over the Pacific Ocean. Japan grounded its 12 F-35As during the investigation. The US and Japanese navies searched for the missing aircraft and pilot, finding debris soon afterward and recovered the pilot's remains in June. Though there was speculation that China or Russia might attempt to salvage the aircraft, the Japanese Defense Ministry reported that there had been no "reported activities" from either country. The pilot had radioed his intention to abort the drill before disappearing. Though the pilot was apparently conscious and responsive until 15 seconds before crashing, he sent no distress signal nor attempted any recovery maneuvers as he descended at a rapid rate. The accident report attributed the cause to the pilot's spatial disorientation.
  • On 31 October 2019, a Dutch Air Force F-35A was accidentally doused by firefighting foam instead of water while being welcomed as the first Dutch F-35. The aircraft was grounded for 3 weeks in order to check for damage.

2020–present

2020

  • On 19 May 2020, a USAF F-35A from the 58th Fighter Squadron crashed while landing at Eglin AFB. The pilot ejected and was rescued in stable condition. The accident was attributed to a combination of pilot error induced by fatigue, a design issue with the oxygen system, the aircraft's complex and distracting nature, a malfunctioning head-mounted display, and an unresponsive flight control system.
  • On 29 September 2020, a USMC F-35B crashed in Imperial County, California, after colliding with a Marine Corps KC-130 during air-to-air refuelling. The F-35B pilot was injured in the ejection, and the KC-130 crash-landed in a field without deploying its landing gear.

2021

  • On 12 March 2021, during a night flight for close-air support weapons training near Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, a round fired from the belly-mounted 25 mm gun pod on a F-35B detonated shortly after leaving the barrel of the gun. The pilot was uninjured, but the aircraft was grounded for maintenance for more than three months.
  • On 17 November 2021, a Royal Air Force 617 Squadron F-35B crashed during routine operations in the Mediterranean. The pilot was safely recovered to HMS Queen Elizabeth. The wreckage, including all security sensitive equipment, was largely recovered with the assistance of U.S. and Italian forces. The crash was determined to have been caused by an engine-blanking plug left in the intake.

2022

  • On 4 January 2022, a South Korean Air Force F-35A made a belly landing after all systems failed except the flight controls and the engine. The pilot heard a series of bangs during low-altitude flight, and various systems stopped working. The control tower suggested that the pilot eject, but he managed to land the plane without deploying the landing gear, walking away uninjured.
  • On 24 January 2022, a USN F-35C with VFA-147 suffered a ramp strike while landing on the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) and was lost overboard in the South China Sea. Seven crew members were injured, while the pilot ejected safely and was recovered from the water. On 2 March 2022, the aircraft was recovered from a depth of about 12,400 ft (3,780 m) with the aid of a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and DSCV Picasso, a deep-diving ship.
  • On 19 October 2022, an F-35A crashed at the north end of the runway at Hill Air Force Base in Utah. The pilot safely ejected and was unharmed. The crash was caused by errors in the air data system from the wake turbulence of a preceding aircraft, which resulted in several rapid transitions between the primary and backup flight-conditions data sources. These rapid transitions caused the accumulation of reset values, leading the flight control laws to operate on inaccurate flight-conditions data, leading to departure from controlled flight.
  • On 15 December 2022, an F-35B crashed during a failed vertical landing at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth in Texas. The government test pilot ejected on the ground and was not seriously injured. The aircraft was undergoing production test flying and had not yet been delivered by the manufacturer to the U.S. military.

2023

  • On 17 September 2023, an F-35B crashed after the pilot ejected from his jet over North Charleston, South Carolina following a mishap during a training flight out of MCAS Beaufort. While the pilot was unharmed, the fighter was not located for about 30 hours. The fighter's wreckage was found on the evening of 18 September 2023.

2024

  • On 28 May 2024, a developmental test F-35B crashed shortly after takeoff from Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. The pilot ejected and was reportedly injured.

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