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

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The U.S. 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 Friday near the Miramar air base 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 toward 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 100 feet (30 m) above the ground, the pilot ejected and their parachute deployed as they rose about 200 feet (61 m) into the air just in time.

“The jet hit the ground right next to another plane,” said Lott. “It plowed into the runway and just blew up.”

Candace Hadley, a spokesperson 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” movie, 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 U.S. 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 $2 trillion at that point. The F-35B is one of several versions, and has an engine designed for short takeoffs and vertical landings. A single F-35B costs about $109 million.

A Marines statement called Friday’s crash a “Class A mishap.” That’s the most severe mishap category, used when the damage totals more than $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 Center statistics.

At least seven other military aircraft mishaps have happened in the U.S. this year, according to the Flight Safety Foundation’s Aviation Safety Network database.

In five F-35 crashes in recent years, 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 an Air Force base in California from Texas.

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 defense 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.

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AP Transportation Writer Josh Funk contributed to this report from Omaha, Nebraska. Rebecca Boone contributed from Boise, Idaho.