F-35B makes crash landing in Fort Worth
A pilot ejected from a military fighter jet, making a crash landing on a runway Thursday morning in Fort Worth. Video shows a pilot in the sky with a parachute after ejecting from an aircraft that had been hovering above the ground moments earlier.
“We are aware of the F-35B crash on the shared runway at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth and understand that the pilot ejected successfully,” Lockheed Martin said in a written statement. “Safety is our priority, and we will follow appropriate investigation protocol.”
An aircraft can be seen hovering and lowering itself toward the ground in a video obtained by KXAS-TV (NBC5) from Kitt Wilder. The aircraft appears to be landing when the jet’s nose tips forward onto the ground and the front landing gear appears to snap off. The plane slides on the runway, turning as a plume of smoke emerges before the pilot ejects and parachutes back toward the ground.
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The pilot is “safe and under observation,” White Settlement police Chief Christopher Cook said on Twitter.
Lockheed Martin did not provide information about the condition of the pilot or what may have led to the crash in its statement.
Police responded at about 10:15 a.m. to the base near the town of White Settlement after receiving multiple calls about a military aircraft crash with a pilot ejecting, Cook told The Dallas Morning News.
Cook said the Department of Defense and Lockheed Martin requested the police close off public areas around the runway because they worried people would encroach on federal property.
“When we got here, there were people in the middle of the highway,” Cook said. “Certainly we had to clear up all of that, from a safety perspective.”
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Cook said all roads had been opened Thursday afternoon and authorities would conduct their investigation. He said the plane belonged to Lockheed Martin.
The company is an arms, defense, security and aerospace company headquartered in Maryland that employs about 114,000 people worldwide, according to its website.
The Tarrant County facility is the primary place where the company manufactures F-35 combat aircraft and employs more than 18,000 people. Lockheed is one of the largest contractors working with the Department of Defense.
The F-35B can land like a helicopter and take-off in short distances, and it is operated by the United States Marine Corps, the United Kingdom, and the Italian Air Force, according to the company’s website.
The base said in a Facebook post Tuesday multiple structures were damaged by strong winds that accompanied a tornado that occurred during storms that day. The group said debris had spread across the runway and the base’s operations department workers were cleaning up the scene that day.
At least 14 tornadoes swept through the region Tuesday. The National Weather service said three tornados — one with winds up to 110 miles per hour — touched down near the base that day.
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