Pilot safe after F-35C crashes near a central California Naval installation
The U.S. Navy F-35C Lighting II Demonstration Team performs at the Atlanta Air Show at Atlanta Regional Airport, Sunday, May 23, 2021, in Peachtree City, Ga. Credit: AP/Danny Karnik
LEMOORE, Calif. — A pilot was safe after an F-35C fighter jet crashed near a central California naval installation on Wednesday, officials said.
Authorities received a report that a military jet had crashed and was engulfed in flames around 6:40 p.m., the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post. Responding deputies, firefighters, California Highway Patrol officers and EMS personnel found the wreckage in a cotton field just north of Lemoore Naval Air Station. The pilot, who had ejected, was found with a parachute in a nearby field, the sheriff’s office said. He was flown to a hospital for evaluation and was expected to be OK.
Firefighters used a bulldozer to cut a path to the jet so fire engines could get close enough to extinguish the fire, the sheriff's office said.
Naval Air Station Lemoore confirmed that the F-35C attached to the VFA-125 Rough Raiders went down near the installation. The pilot was safe after successfully ejecting and no other personnel were affected, the installation said in a statement posted on social media.
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