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F-35 crashed in US: In January this year, a US Air Force pilot and engineers spent nearly 50 minutes on a conference call while the pilot was mid-air after a F-35 single-seat fighter aircraft suffered a malfunction in Alaska. The malfunction occurred during a training exercise. After the call, the pilot ejected safely, but the $200 million jet entered a free fall and then turned into flames during the landing phase at Eielson Air Force Base.

According to a conference held just after the crash, the jet was on a training exercise when the crash occurred. After eight months of crash, a report by CNN claimed that the crash occurred due to ice in the hydraulic lines in the nose and main landing gears of the F-35. It prevented the lines and nose from deploying as needed before landing.

VIDEO: F-35 fighter jet crashed at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska

What happened to ill-fated F-35 jet?

The report also highlighted that the pilot had attempted to retract the landing gear (the system of wheels, struts, and brakes on an aircraft or spacecraft that supports the vehicle on the ground, allows it to move (taxi), and absorbs the forces of takeoff and landing), but failed to align as per the landing procedures. After multiple attempts, the pilot found the landing gear failed to deploy on centre and instead locked at a left angle.

This triggered the pilot to hold an emergency conference call with five Lockheed Martin engineers as the plane swooped near the air base.

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The pilot attempted two "touch-and-go" landings to fix the jammed nose gear, but both efforts failed, causing the landing gear to freeze completely, according to the outlet. At that point, the jet’s sensors falsely indicated it was on the ground, rendering the aircraft uncontrollable and forcing the pilot to eject immediately, the report stated.

Recent F-35 jet crash

This was not the first case of an F-35 crash in recent years. Earlier in May last year, an F-35 fighter jet on its way from Texas to Edwards Air Force Base near Los Angeles crashed after the pilot stopped to refuel in New Mexico. The pilot was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.

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In October, a Marine investigation blamed the pilot of an F-35 for ejecting from the aircraft when he didn’t need to, causing the fighter to fly unmanned for 11 minutes before it crashed in rural South Carolina in 2023.

(With inputs from agency)