An F-35 fighter jet crashed early Tuesday afternoon at Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks, according to an official there.
The pilot was not injured in the crash, which occurred around 1 p.m., according to Airman 1st Class Spencer Hanson. He said an emergency response is ongoing and had few additional details.
There were no additional reports of injuries within an hour of the crash, Hanson said.
“They cordoned off the area where it crashed on the runway,” he said. Emergency services including ambulances and fire trucks were in the area, he said.
There are 54 of the fighter jets stationed at Eielson, which is located about 25 miles southeast of Fairbanks. The last two arrived at the base in 2022.
Two squadrons of F-22 Raptor fighter jets are also stationed with the 3rd Wing at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson near Anchorage.
The F-35A is the U.S. Air Force’s “latest fifth-generation fighter” that replaced an aging fleet of F-16 Fighting Falcons and A-10 Thunderbolt II’s, according to an Eielson fact sheet.
The F-35s are long-range supersonic fighter jets with stealth capability that can reach anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere in one mission.
The average price of one new F-35 was set at roughly $81 million in a preliminary deal for a large order of new aircraft between the U.S. Department of Defense and manufacturer Lockheed Martin as reported in December by Air & Space Forces Magazine.
