A U.S. Air Force pilot safely ejected from a single-seat F-35 fighter jet that crashed during a training exercise at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska. The pilot experienced an inflight malfunction and declared an emergency before the crash, but was in stable condition and being evaluated at a medical facility. The crash caused significant damage to the aircraft. The Air Force plans to conduct a thorough investigation to prevent similar incidents in the future. Eielson Air Force Base was selected in 2016 to host 54 F-35s and underwent an expansion costing over half a billion dollars. The F-35 has the capability to fly over 12 hours at a time and reach almost anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere in one mission. This incident follows previous F-35 crashes, including one in New Mexico in May where the pilot was seriously injured after refueling, and another in South Carolina in 2023 where the pilot ejected unnecessarily, causing the fighter to crash.
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