Details Emerge of Second Military Air Crash in New Mexico in 30 Days, Pilot Injured

As previously reported by AlamogordoTownNews.org on Newsbreak, an F-35 B Lightening II crashed near the airport in Albuquerque. Details have now emerged of that crash, the second military crash in New Mexico in the last 30 days. A prior crash occurred originating from Holloman Air Force Base crashing at White Sands National Park.

The most recent downed plane was an F-35 that left Fort Worth, Texas, earlier Tuesday and was headed to Edwards Air Force Base near Los Angeles. A spokesperson for Lockheed said in an email to The Associated Press that the fighter jet crashed after the pilot stopped to refuel at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, as reported by the Air Force Times. Several fire departments responded to reports of the crash just before 2 p.m. local time, and a spokesperson for Albuquerque Fire Rescue.

The pilot, with no others on board, was able to escape after crashing around 2 p.m. on a hillside on the south side of Albuquerque’s airport and was taken to a the UNM Hospital with serious injuries, according to an Albuquerque Fire Department spokesman.

Located on the southern edge of Albuquerque, Kirtland is home to the 377th Air Base Wing, which conducts nuclear operations and trains and equips expeditionary forces. It’s also home to the Air Force Research Laboratory.

In an update Wednesday, a spokesperson said that the jet had been transferring to the California base before the crash for additional test equipment modifications after it had been worked on in Fort Worth. The F-35 was a test aircraft, a defense official told Military.com on Wednesday. It was the Marine Corps variant of the aircraft -- the F-35B -- but was being flown by an Air Force pilot, the Air Force confirmed.

"A U.S. Air Force pilot, assigned to the Defense Contract Management Agency, was injured after ejecting from a Lockheed Martin F-35B en route to Edwards Air Force Base May 28," Department of the Air Force spokesperson Rose Riley told Military.com. "The member was transported to a local hospital, where they remain in serious but stable condition."

Two civilians were assessed at the scene, a fire official said, but were not transported for care. ABC News reported that fire at the crash site had been extinguished.

Tuesday's crash marks the latest incident with an F-35B. A pilot ejected from an F-35 over South Carolina in September, and the jet subsequently went missing for a day before being located.

In late December 2022, an F-35B crashed on the runway of Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth during a vertical landing attempt. That pilot, an Air Force major doing tests on behalf of the Defense Contract Management Agency, was sent to the hospital and was later released after healing from minor injuries.

That incident prompted F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office officials to ground some models of the F-35 and pause deliveries of the aircraft. It also prompted them in February 2023 to identify a "rare system phenomenon" in F135 engines, which they noticed during inspections. They resumed deliveries the following month.

The F-35 program is the largest, most expensive military acquisition program in history of Aircraft purchases with a total program cost of about $2 trillion. F-35s are the first line of defense for the U.S. and our allies.

The F-35B, which is the model in this crash, costs about $145 million.

The incident near Holloman AFB is unrel to the F-35 program. The cause of that inc is still under investigation.

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