Second F-35 Crash in last 6 months raises question about $1.5 Trillion project

April 13, 2019 Aircraft Crash News 16,470 Views

In the last 6 months (Approximately ) two F-35 Lightning II fighter jets crashed and 2 made an emergency landing due to the technical issue.

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is the state of Art Fifth generation stealth fighter jets or you can say that most advanced fighter jet in the world right now

Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is also one of the most expensive military projects. It’s been estimated that the F-35 has cost a staggering $1.5 trillion since its inception in 1996 and Seven years ago, the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program was close to being canceled.

Meanwhile, the plane is plagued by issues, including having trouble landing on aircraft carriers, issues winning dogfights, reliability problems and, ironically, vulnerability to lightning strikes.

Apart from the above-mentioned issue plane is also facing the crash and emergency landing issue too.

Here are details of Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II crash and emergency landings

On August 23, 2018, an F-35A made an Emergency Landing after Nose Gear Collapses At Eglin Air Force Base. An F-35A Lightning II, assigned to the 58th Fighter Squadron experienced an in-flight emergency and returned to base. The aircraft landed safely and parked when the front nose gear collapsed. There was one person on board. Fire crews responded immediately and the pilot suffered no injuries as a result of the incident. See Details: Link
on September 28, 2018, a United States Marine F-35B Stealth Fighter jet Crashed Near MCAS Beaufort. Fighter jet crashed five miles outside Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort. The pilot of the plane safely ejected and suffered minor injuries. See Details: Link
on February 15, 2019, RAF F-35 declared mid-air emergency and land safely at RAF Marham after experiencing a technical issue
April 9, 2019, a Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-35A Lightning II fighter jet crashes over Pacific. The Pilot of the fighter jet is still missing. Search and rescue teams found wreckage belonging to a Japanese Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter close to northern Japan

There have been two other significant incidents with the aircraft including an engine fire on an F-35A on Sept. 23, 2016, at Mountain Home AFB in Idaho and on Oct. 27, 2016, when an F-35B part of Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 caught fire in the internal weapons bay causing significant damage.

The ground incident at Mountain Home AFB was attributed to strong winds blowing into the afterburner outlet of the aircraft.

The above mention Crash and emergency landing incidents are raising the serious issue on F-35 Combat readiness and pilot safety too.

On April 8, 2019, a report published by Watchdog claims that United States Navy Risking Lives by pushing the F-35C into combat. Just a few days after the report Japanese Air F-35A Lightning II fighter jet crashed. Japan has also Grounded its entire F-35 Fleet After Fighter Jet crashes over Pacific

The Navy referred all questions about the new report to the Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office, which did not immediately provide responses to questions.

The Navy previously said its F-35 “met all requirements” to achieve initial operational capability, or IOC, announcing the status Feb. 28, the last of the three U.S. services that fly the aircraft to declare the plane as combat-ready.

The United States should initiate a detailed inquiry in both F-35 crash incident and try to rectify these issue as soon as possible otherwise $1.5 Trillion F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program might suffer seriously below&

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