Janice R. Andrews
Texas’s Fort Worth According to Lockheed Martin officials, an F-35B test plane that was traveling from Fort Worth to California crashed in New Mexico on Tuesday.
The Fort Worth-based Lockheed Martin company, which makes the F-35 aircraft, has verified that the incident happened after the aircraft had paused at Kirtland Air Force Base near Albuquerque, New Mexico, for refueling. The pilot is reportedly recuperating in a hospital after safely exiting the plane, as reported by KOB 4 news in Albuquerque.
The government pilot was in charge of the aircraft, which was owned and flown by the government. The aircraft was en route to Edwards Air Force Base located in California for more equipment testing and modifications.
Lockheed Martin declared, “Safety is our priority and we will follow appropriate investigation protocol.”
The fighter plane caught fire as soon as it made contact with the ground in the collision, which occurred on Tuesday at around 2:00 pm, according to KOB 4.
This event comes after an F-35B crashed at Fort Worth’s Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in December 2022. The jet hovered throughout the landing, bounced off the ground, tipped forward onto its nose, spun in a circle, and then tipped onto its side, allowing the pilot to safely exit the aircraft.
