San Diego: The US Marine Corps lost an F-35B fighter jet in a crash near Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego on Friday after the pilot ejected moments before impact. The Marine Corps said the pilot was taken to a local medical facility in stable condition for evaluation and treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
Aerial footage from a news helicopter showed thick black smoke rising from the wreckage in a dirt field as military personnel and firefighters responded to the scene. White fire retardant covered parts of the crash site, while crews used fire hoses to extinguish the blaze. The Marine Corps later classified the incident as a “Class A mishap,” its most serious accident category.
Wade Lott, 36, said he witnessed the crash while driving to work at a concrete company south of the flight line. He said two fighter jets were descending toward the runway together.
“It just blew up. It was crazy,” Lott said, adding that he watched from his truck as the first aircraft landed safely.
According to Lott, the second jet then began slowing down, almost as if it was attempting to hover. When the aircraft was about 100 feet above the ground, the pilot ejected, and the parachute opened as the pilot rose to roughly 200 feet into the air.
“The jet hit the ground right next to another plane,” Lott said. “It ploughed into the runway and just blew up.”
Candace Hadley, a spokesperson for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, said firefighters responded to a vegetation fire that broke out near the crash site. She referred further questions to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.
The base was once home to the Navy’s elite fighter pilot training school featured in the original *Top Gun* film and was known as “Fightertown USA.” The school relocated to Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada in 1996 after the base was transferred to the Marine Corps.
According to a 2024 analysis by the US Government Accountability Office, the Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force collectively operate more than 630 F-35 aircraft. The F-35B variant is designed for short takeoffs and vertical landings. Each aircraft costs about USD 109 million, while the report estimated the overall F-35 program will cost about USD 2 trillion after the military acquires more than 1,800 additional aircraft and operates them over several decades.
The Marine Corps said Friday’s crash qualified as a “Class A mishap,” a designation used when damage exceeds USD 2 million, an aircraft is destroyed, or a service member is killed. Statistics from the Air Force Safety Center show there have been at least 17 other Class A mishaps involving F-35 aircraft since 2000. The Flight Safety Foundation’s Aviation Safety Network database also recorded at least seven other US military aircraft accidents this year.
The Lexington Institute, a think tank focused on defense technology and national security, has described the F-35 as the safest and most capable fighter aircraft in the US military’s inventory. It said F-35 variants have experienced fewer crashes since entering service in 2015 than many other fighter jets did during their early years. Fatal F-35 crashes remain rare. In five previous F-35 crashes, pilots successfully ejected, although at least one sustained injuries when an F-35 crashed near Albuquerque International Sunport in New Mexico in May 2024.
The Miramar crash destroyed the aircraft and triggered a firefighting response, but the pilot survived after ejecting in time and remains in stable condition, according to the Marine Corps.
