F-35 pilot made a 50-minute aerial conference chat with engineers before the fighter jet crashed in Alaska

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F-35 pilot made a 50-minute aerial conference chat with engineers before the fighter jet crashed in Alaska

A US Air Force F-35 pilot spent 50 minutes on an airborne conference call with Lockheed Martin engineers trying to solve a problem with his fighter jet before ejecting and crashing in Alaska earlier this year, according to an accident report released this week.

The January 28 crash at Eielson Air Force Base in Fairbanks was captured on video, with the aircraft dropping straight down and exploding in a fireball. The pilot ejected safely, with minor injuries, but the $200 million fighter jet was destroyed.

An Air Force investigation blamed the crash on ice in the hydraulic lines in the F-35’s nose and main landing gears, which prevented proper deployment.

According to the report, after takeoff, the pilot attempted to retract the landing gear, but it did not retract completely. When I lowered it again, it did not center and instead locked at an angle to the left. Attempts to fix the landing gear led the fighter jet to believe it was on the ground, resulting in the crash.

After going through system checklists in an attempt to resolve the issue, the pilot joined a conference call with engineers from the plane’s manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, as the plane flew near the air base.

According to the report, five engineers took part in the call: a senior software engineer, a flight safety engineer, and three specialists in landing gear systems.

According to the report, the pilot attempted two “touch and go” landings, in which the plane briefly lands to try to straighten the jammed nose gear.

However, those attempts failed to recenter the nose wheel, causing both the left and right main landing gears to freeze and prevent them from fully extending to attempt an actual landing.

At that point, the F-35’s sensors indicated it was on the ground, and the jet’s computer systems switched to “automated ground-operation mode,” according to the report.

This made the fighter jet “uncontrollable” because it was “flying as if it were on the ground,” forcing the pilot to eject.

An examination of the aircraft’s wreckage revealed that approximately one-third of the fluid in the hydraulic systems of both the nose and right main landing gears was water, when there should have been none.

The investigation discovered a similar hydraulic icing problem in another F-35 at the same base during a flight nine days after the crash, but the aircraft landed safely.

According to the report, Lockheed Martin issued guidance on the problem with the F-35’s sensors in extreme cold weather in an April 2024 maintenance newsletter, about nine months before the crash. The problem may make it “difficult for the pilot to maintain control of the aircraft,” according to the guidance.

The report stated that the temperature at the time of the crash was -1 degrees Fahrenheit.

According to the report, if the conference call participants had consulted the 2024 maintenance newsletter, “they likely would have advised a planned full stop landing or a controlled ejection instead of a second touch-and-go” that eventually led to the conditions that caused the crash.

CNN has contacted Lockheed Martin for comment on the Air Force report.

The Air Force’s Accident Investigation Board concluded that “crew decision-making, including those on the in-flight conference call,” a lack of “oversight for the hazardous material program,” which oversees hydraulic fluid storage and distribution, and a failure to follow aircraft hydraulics servicing procedures, all contributed to the crash.

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