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Associated Press

The US Marine Corps says the pilot of an F-35B stealth fighter is expected to live after ejecting from the jet before it crashed in California.
The jet went down on Friday near the Miramar airbase in San Diego.
“The pilot ejected, was transported to a local medical facility in stable condition for evaluation and treatment of non-life-threatening injuries,” the Marine Corps said in an updated statement.
Aerial video from a news helicopter showed a plume of black smoke rising from the wreckage in a dirt field, with multiple military and firefighting vehicles and people standing nearby.
What appeared to be white flame retardant covered the ground, and at least one person was spraying the wreckage with a fire hose.

Wade Lott saw the crash as he drove to work at a concrete company just south of the flight line.
“It just blew up, it was crazy,” said Lott, 36, who watched from his truck as two jets descended towards the runway together. The first landed without incident, but the second suddenly began slowing down, almost as if it were trying to hover, Lott said.
When the jet was about 30 metres (100 feet) above the ground, the pilot ejected and their parachute deployed as they rose about 60 metres (200 feet) into the air just in time.
“The jet hit the ground right next to another plane,” Lott said. “It ploughed into the runway and just blew up.”
Candace Hadley, a spokeswoman for San Diego Fire, said firefighters were on scene to respond to a vegetation fire that sparked near the crash site. She referred additional questions to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.
The base used to host the Navy fighter pilot training school depicted in the original Top Gun film, and was known as “Fightertown USA” in its heyday. The school was relocated to Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada in 1996 after the base was transferred to the Marine Corps.
The US Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force together have more than 630 F-35s, according to a 2024 analysis by the Government Accounting Office, which estimated the overall price tag to be US$2 trillion at that point.
The F-35B is one of several versions, and has an engine designed for short take-offs and vertical landings. A single F-35B costs about US$109 million.

A Marines statement called Friday’s crash a “Class A mishap”. That is the most severe mishap category, used when the damage totals more than US$2 million, an aircraft is destroyed or a service member killed.
In the Air Force alone, there have been at least 17 other “Class A mishaps” involving F-35 aircraft since 2000, according to Air Force Safety Centre statistics.
At least seven other military aircraft mishaps have happened in the US this year, according to the Flight Safety Foundation’s Aviation Safety Network database.
The F-35s are considered the safest and most capable fighter jets the military has in its fleet, according to the Lexington Institute think tank that focuses on defence technology and national security.
There have been fewer crashes involving any of the F-35 models since the jet was adopted in 2015 compared to other fighters when those planes were new, and fatal crashes are rare in F-35s.
In five F-35 crashes, the pilots were able to eject, though at least one sustained injuries. That pilot was injured when an F-35 crashed near the international airport in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in May 2024. The jet was heading to an Air Force base in California from Texas.


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Smoke rises after a Marine Corps F-35B crash at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, California, on Friday.    Photo: KGTV via Reuters

Crews work to douse a F-35 fighter jet that crashed near the runway at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego on Friday. Photo: The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP

Emergency personnel respond near the site where a US Marine Corps F-35B fighter jet crashed near Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego on Friday. Photo: EPA

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The pilot, who ejected before the plane went down and was taken to a medical facility, is expected to survive


The pilot, who ejected before the plane went down and was taken to a medical facility, is expected to survive.


F-35 stealth fighter jets

US military

Defence

United States

F-35B stealth fighter crashed in California, US Marine Corps says

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The pilot, who ejected before the plane went down and was taken to a medical facility, is expected to survive

The pilot, who ejected before the plane went down and was taken to a medical facility, is expected to survive