A Marine Corps F-35B fighter jet crashed at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar on Friday morning, but the pilot was safely recovered.
An F-35B Lightning II fighter jet crashed and erupted into flames near a runway at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego on Friday morning. The aircraft, assigned to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Group 11, experienced a 'Class A mishap' just before 10 a.m. PT. Capt. Steven Keenan and Maj. Larry Boyd reported that the pilot, who was the only person aboard, successfully ejected from the plane. The pilot was recovered and transported to a medical facility with non-life-threatening injuries. Fire crews responded to the scene, using water and firefighting foam to douse the wreckage and extinguish a small grass fire sparked by the crash. While the air traffic control tower confirmed the parachute deployed successfully, the specific cause of the crash remains under investigation by the military. The F-35B is a stealth aircraft capable of vertical takeoff and landing, costing approximately $102 million per unit.