F-35A Stealth Jet Crashes At Eglin Air Force Base, Second Stealth Fighter To Crash In 5 Days

An F-35 stealth fighter jet crashed while trying to land at Eglin Air Force Base in Destin, Florida, Tuesday night — the second crash of a stealth fighter in five days outside the same base.

The U.S. Air Force reported that the F-35A Lightning II from the 58th Fighter Squadron crashed while it was attempting to land at the base.

The pilot was also able to eject safely and was in a stable condition after being taken to a local hospital, with no deaths or property loss reported.

The F-35 is a fifth-generation fighter and worth about $90 million a piece, and the program has a $1 trillion price tag over the plane's service lifetime of 50 years. Almost 500 aircraft have been produced so far for nine countries including the U.S., Israel and Italy.

The previous F-35 crash before Tuesday's occurred at Japan’s Misawa Air Base, when a unit crashed just 30 minutes after take off.

On Friday (May 15), the an F-22 Raptor from the 43rd Fighter Squadron crashed 12 miles northeast of the Eglin Air Force Base during a routine training flight. The pilot was able to eject safely, transported to a local hospital, and reported to be in a stable condition. No loss of civilian life or property damage was reported.

The F-22 crash in Okaloosa was reportedly not connected to a military tribute flight over Bay County in honor of COVID-19 first responders in Panama City, which was cut short.

The investigation into both incidents are ongoing, officials have said.

There were only 195 F-22 Raptors built by Lockheed for a program cost of $67 billion only for the development. Since 2004, four F-22 Raptors have crashed, and one was rebuilt.

The F-22 program, originally planned to produce 400 units, was abruptly ended by then-defense secretary Robert Gates in 2009.