There Have Been More Than A Dozen F-35 Lightning II Crashes To Date

Aug 02, 2026 03:15 AM - 2 hours ago 2

The clang of a United States Marine Corps Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II astatine Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, San Diego, California, connected Friday is conscionable the latest mishap involving the fifth-generation fighter.

“Emergency unit responded this greeting to an craft mishap connected the flightline of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar astatine astir 10:00 a.m. section clip today, involving an F-35B assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3d Marine Aircraft Wing,” MCASM confirmed successful a statement to the media.

“The aviator ejected, was transported to a section aesculapian installation successful unchangeable information for information and curen of non-life-threatening injuries.”

The work said much accusation would beryllium released erstwhile available.

Fightertown USA’s Latest Crash

This latest mishap is besides conscionable the latest aviation mishap to hap astatine the San Diego facility, but that shouldn’t beryllium astonishing fixed that for much than 50 years, it hosted the United States Navy aviator training schoolhouse depicted successful the original Top Gun film, earning the nickname “Fightertown USA.”

In 1996, the schoolhouse was relocated to Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada, and the guidelines transferred to the United States Marine Corps, wherever it serves arsenic the West Coast office for the service’s aviation units.

Pilots regularly utilize adjacent restricted subject airspace complete the Pacific Ocean, including the W-291 range, for tactical combat and interception training.

The astir caller erstwhile mishap astatine the guidelines anterior to Friday’s F-35 clang occurred successful precocious August 2023, erstwhile an F/A-18 Hornet collapsed eastbound of the guidelines adjacent Interstate 15. The sole aviator was killed aft ejecting from the aircraft.

The Latest Crash Of An F-35

The United States Marine Corps identified the clang connected Friday arsenic a “Class A Mishap,” the astir terrible category, indicating that the harm was greater than $2 million, aliases that the craft was destroyed aliases a work personnel killed.

It is the latest Class A mishap involving an F-35 craft since 2000.

The Lightning II craft was an F-35B, a short takeoff and vertical landing version that is operated by the United States Marine Corps and respective partner nations. Unlike the U.S. Air Force’s F-35A, the accepted takeoff and landing model, aliases the U.S. Navy’s F-35C, which is the type designed for bearer operations, the F-35B tin beryllium deployed from the U.S. Navy’s amphibious battle ships and run from austere guardant bases pinch constricted runway capabilities.

The USMC besides operates the F-35C alongside the U.S. Navy from the Nimitz-class and Gerald R. Ford-class nuclear-powered supercarriers.

The costs of a azygous F-35B is astir $109 million.

A Safe Service Record, Despite High-Profile Crashes’

With Friday’s mishap, location person now been astatine slightest a twelve awesome hull-loss crashes involving the Lockheed Martin stealth fighter. This incident besides comes conscionable 4 months aft a U.S. Air Force F-35A collapsed astatine the Nevada Test and Training Range successful Southern Nevada during a training formation from Nellis Air Force Base. The aviator was capable to eject and sustained only insignificant injuries.

Just days earlier, different F-35 was forced to make an emergency landing astatine an undisclosed aerial guidelines successful the Middle East aft taking crushed occurrence during a sortie complete Iran arsenic portion of Operation Urgent Fury.

Although 2 F-35s – including a U.S. Air Force A version and a USMC B exemplary – suffered extended occurrence harm that moreover resulted successful the F-35B being damaged beyond repair successful 2016, the first clang of an F-35 occurred connected September 28, 2018. That Marine Corps F-35 collapsed adjacent Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina. The aviator ejected safely.

A Japanese Air Self-Defense Force aviator has the unfortunate favoritism of being the first aviator killed successful an F-35 mishap aft his accepted takeoff and landing exemplary collapsed during a training formation from Misawa Air Base. That mishap has been attributed to the pilot’s spatial disorientation.

Another USMC F-35B was mislaid aft the aviator safely ejected pursuing a malfunction complete North Charleston, South Carolina, during a training formation from MCAS Beaufort. In that mishap, the U.S. subject was incapable to find the pitchy combatant for much than 30 hours arsenic the craft flew for 11 minutes earlier crashing successful Williamsburg County.

Such incidents mightiness put successful mobility the information grounds of the F-35.

Yet, location person been acold less crashes involving the Lockheed Martin fifth-generation fighters compared to different combat craft astatine the aforesaid shape of their respective work history. There are only astir 15 mishaps that resulted successful a complete nonaccomplishment aliases demolition of an F-35 retired of much than 1,340 craft built.

By comparison, location person been much than 750 crashes of the F-16 Fighting Falcon. In its early work during the precocious 1970s and 1980s, the F-16 suffered importantly higher mishap rates. Its single-engine configuration moreover earned it the nickname “lawn dart” because an motor flameout could instantly origin the pitchy to plunge. Still, the full crashes involving the F-16 are crossed the millions of formation hours the craft has amassed.

At slightest 2 Russian Sukhoi Su-57 (NATO reporting sanction “Felon”) fifth-generation multirole fighters person besides been mislaid successful crashes since the first mishap successful December 2019. Given that only astir 30 of the Kremlin’s astir precocious combat craft are now successful service, the ratio of losses of the Su-57 is vastly higher than that of the F-35.

However, fixed the costs of the Lightning II, nary clang should ever beryllium taken lightly!