5-28-2024 4:58pm

Second Military Aircraft Crash in a Month, F-35 Crash in Albuquerque, Developing Story

This is a developing story. KOAT is reporting that a pilot was injured after a military plane crashed and caught fire near the Albuquerque Sunport on Tuesday.

Albuquerque Fire Rescue officials say a military plane crashed off of the airfield on the south side of the Sunport.

A U.S. official tells the ABC News Pentagon Bureau the plane was a new F-35 that belonged to the U.S. Marine Corps. The official says the plane was being transferred from the Lockheed factory to be put into service. The plane was flown by a defense contract management agency pilot at the time of the crash

Sunport and emergency officials say the pilot was the only person in the plane and was transported to a local hospital. This is a developing story.

This makes the second military plane crash in New Mexico in the last 30 days. According to reports in AlamogordoTownNews.org on the afternoon of April 30, 2024, personnel and citizens of Alamogordo and Holloman Air Force Base were concerned to learn of a crash of an F-16 near White Sands National Park.

The U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 49th Wing crashed west of Holloman Air Force base. The sole pilot on board successfully ejected and was transported by ambulance for medical care. The crash happened at about 11:50 a.m. Tuesday, Holloman officials said.

Later that evening, officials said in a release that the pilot was in good condition and had been released from a local hospital.

This is the second military aircraft to crash in New Mexico in the last 30 days. This is a developing story. Stay tuned to AlamogordoTownNews.org and KALHRadio.org as the story develops.