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Wild video of a pilot ejecting from a F-35B Lightning II fighter jet at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth in Texas emerged online on Thursday.
According to NBC DFW News, the incident was reported to White Settlement Police at around 10:15 a.m. local time Thursday morning.
U.S. Navy Police and Lockheed Martin had contacted local law enforcement to assist in clearing onlookers from a road that runs adjacent to the runway near where the crash occurred.
“When we got here, there were people in the middle of the highway,” White Settlement Chief of Police Christoper Cook said. “Certainly we had to clear up all of that, from a safety perspective.”
Cook added the pilot of the Lockheed-owned jet ejected and the pilot’s seat and parachute were visible near the aircraft, but he had no specific information about the pilot’s condition.
We responded to assist Lockheed Martin and Naval Air Station on a military aircraft crash where the pilot ejected. Update on pilot is that they are safe and under observation. Grateful for this news. We have opened up perimeter roads in the area. pic.twitter.com/uhTDevFdid
— Christopher Cook (@cooktx) December 15, 2022
In video of the accident, the aircraft was landing vertically when it appeared to bounce off the runway.
The jet continued to bounce while the engines roared before the tail lifted up, driving the nose of the fighter jet into the ground.
When that occurred, the front landing gear became detached, sending the jet into a spin and pointing it in the opposite direction.
It was around that moment that the pilot can be seen ejecting from the damaged aircraft.
As the pilot parachuted to the ground, the F-35B Lightning II fighter jet slid forward a few feet, coming to rest in a grassy area off to the side of the runway.
#Breaking New much clearer video, courtesy Kitt Wilder, of STOL variant F35 B model landing JRB Fort Worth, and pilot ejects. Condition of pilot still unknown. @CBSDFW pic.twitter.com/BeERIeyhtO
— Doug Dunbar (@cbs11doug) December 15, 2022
“We are aware of the F-35B crash on the shared runway at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth and understand that the pilot ejected successfully,” Lockheed Martin said in a statement. “Safety is our priority, and we will follow appropriate investigation protocol.”
Joseph Trevithick of The War Zone reported that the video provides a clear look the functionality of “the so-called ‘zero-zero’ capabilities of the jet’s Martin-Baker US16E ejection seat, with it safely functioning with aircraft on the ground and essentially stopped.”
Coincidentally, Dec. 15 is the anniversary of the first flight of the F-35A in 2006.
The first F-35 Lightning II prototype made its initial flight on this day in 2006 at Fort Worth, Texas.
The F-35 has since developed into the most sophisticated and sought-after fighter plane in the world.
To learn more about the initial flight, visit https://t.co/PmdbmOAsyi pic.twitter.com/i9uRzCNlgf— F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office (@theF35JPO) December 15, 2022
Last year in September, NBC DFW News reports, a Navy T-45C Goshawk jet trainer out of Corpus Christi crashed in Lake Worth near the base. Both pilots were able to eject before the impact, but did suffer injuries.