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Pilot safe after F-35 military jet suffers 'significant damage' in accident at Alaska base

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Pilot safe after F-35 military jet suffers 'significant damage' in accident at Alaska base
News

News

Pilot safe after F-35 military jet suffers 'significant damage' in accident at Alaska base

2025-01-29 09:48 Last Updated At:09:51

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A U.S. Air Force pilot was reported to be safe after a single-seat F-35 fighter jet crashed Tuesday during a training exercise at a base in Alaska.

The pilot experienced an “inflight malfunction” but was able to eject from the aircraft, Col. Paul Townsend, commander of the 354th Fighter Wing, told a news conference. The plane crashed during the landing phase of the flight at Eielson Air Force Base, he said.

The pilot had declared an inflight emergency prior to the crash and was in stable condition and being evaluated at a medical facility, he said.

The crash, which occurred early Tuesday afternoon, caused significant damage to the aircraft, the Air Force said in a statement.

Eielson Air Force Base is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Fairbanks.

Townsend said in the statement said the Air Force would conduct "a thorough investigation in hopes to minimize the chances of such occurrences from happening again.”

Eielson was selected in 2016 to host 54 F-35s, spawning an expansion that cost more than a half-billion dollars that was to include 36 new buildings and dozens of housing units. The expansion included about 3,500 new active duty airmen and their dependents.

With the capability to fly more than 12 hours at a time, the F-35 can reach almost anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere in one mission.

In May, an F-35 fighter jet on its way from Texas to Edwards Air Force Base near Los Angeles crashed after the pilot stopped to refuel in New Mexico. The pilot was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.

In October, a Marine investigation blamed the pilot of an F-35 for ejecting from the aircraft when he didn’t need to, causing the fighter to fly unmanned for 11 minutes before it crashed in rural South Carolina in 2023.

Associated Press reporter Becky Bohrer contributed from Juneau, Alaska.

FILE - U.S. Air Force fighter aircraft F-35 performs on the fourth day of the Aero India 2023 at Yelahanka air base in Bengaluru, India, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi, File)

FILE - U.S. Air Force fighter aircraft F-35 performs on the fourth day of the Aero India 2023 at Yelahanka air base in Bengaluru, India, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi, File)

ROME (AP) — An American Airlines flight from New York to New Delhi landed safely in Rome on Sunday afternoon after it was diverted due to a security concern, which later proved to be “non-credible,” the airline said.

American Airlines said Flight 292 “was inspected by law enforcement" after landing at Leonardo da Vinci International Airport and “cleared to re-depart.”

It didn't clarify the cause of the security concern, but added an inspection was required by protocol before the flight could land in New Delhi.

“The flight will stay in Rome overnight to allow for required crew rest before continuing to Delhi as soon as possible tomorrow," the airline said.

An Associated Press reporter filmed two fighter jets flying over the airport shortly before the unscheduled landing. Fire trucks were visible on the landing strip on one side of the plane after it landed.

Neeraj Chopra, one of the passengers on board, said the captain announced that the plane had to turn around about three hours before it was supposed to land in New Delhi because of a change in “security status.”

Chopra, who was traveling from Detroit to visit family, described the mood on the plane as calm after the initial announcement but said he began to feel stressed when the captain later announced that fighter jets would be escorting their plane to Rome.

“I felt a little panic of, okay, what’s going on here?” Chopra told the AP. “There’s got to be like something bigger going on here.”

Passenger Jonathan Bacon, 22, from Dayton, Ohio, started paying attention to the flight tracker on the seatback in front of him after the captain’s announcement of a “diversion due to a security issue,” observing the plane’s sharp turn away from New Delhi and route back toward Rome.

Passengers had no internet connection for much of the flight, Bacon said, with only some spotty access that clued them into early reports of the situation about two hours before landing.

After landing, Bacon said all passengers were loaded onto buses and taken to the terminal, where each passenger and their personal items underwent additional security screenings that were time-consuming and felt “slightly heightened,” especially for arrivals. More than two hours after landing, Bacon and his friend said they were still waiting for their checked baggage, which they said was also undergoing security screenings.

“It was definitely the longest flight to Europe I’ve ever taken,” Bacon said.

A spokesperson for the airport said it was continuing to operate normally.

Miraj Chopra, passenger of American Airlines flight AA292 en route from New York to New Delhi that turned around over the Caspian Sea Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, and landed at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci International airport checks his phone. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Miraj Chopra, passenger of American Airlines flight AA292 en route from New York to New Delhi that turned around over the Caspian Sea Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, and landed at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci International airport checks his phone. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

American Airlines flight AA292 en route from New York to New Delhi that turned around over the Caspian Sea Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, sits on the tamarack of Rome's Leonardo da Vinci International airport. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

American Airlines flight AA292 en route from New York to New Delhi that turned around over the Caspian Sea Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, sits on the tamarack of Rome's Leonardo da Vinci International airport. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Kavitha Sashi Kumar, right, and Sumana Gheta, both from Dallas, TX, and passengers of American Airlines flight AA292 en route from New York to New Delhi that turned around over the Caspian Sea Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, and landed at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci International airport check their phones. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Kavitha Sashi Kumar, right, and Sumana Gheta, both from Dallas, TX, and passengers of American Airlines flight AA292 en route from New York to New Delhi that turned around over the Caspian Sea Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, and landed at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci International airport check their phones. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

American Airlines flight AA292 en route from New York to New Delhi that turned around over the Caspian Sea Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, sits on the tamarack of Rome's Leonardo da Vinci International airport. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

American Airlines flight AA292 en route from New York to New Delhi that turned around over the Caspian Sea Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, sits on the tamarack of Rome's Leonardo da Vinci International airport. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

People read an electronic display at the New Delhi international airport showing that an American Airlines flight AA292 from New York was diverted to Rome, instead of its scheduled arrival at New Delhi, India, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

People read an electronic display at the New Delhi international airport showing that an American Airlines flight AA292 from New York was diverted to Rome, instead of its scheduled arrival at New Delhi, India, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Tenzin Kunchok, right, an exiled Tibetan waiting for the arrival of a guest on the American Airlines flight AA292 from New York reacts after learning at the New Delhi international airport that the flight was diverted to Rome, instead of its scheduled arrival at New Delhi, India, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Tenzin Kunchok, right, an exiled Tibetan waiting for the arrival of a guest on the American Airlines flight AA292 from New York reacts after learning at the New Delhi international airport that the flight was diverted to Rome, instead of its scheduled arrival at New Delhi, India, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Tenzin Kunchok, right, an exiled Tibetan waiting for the arrival of a guest on the American Airlines flight AA292 from New York reads an electronic display at the New Delhi international airport to learn that the flight was diverted to Rome, instead of its scheduled arrival at New Delhi, India, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Tenzin Kunchok, right, an exiled Tibetan waiting for the arrival of a guest on the American Airlines flight AA292 from New York reads an electronic display at the New Delhi international airport to learn that the flight was diverted to Rome, instead of its scheduled arrival at New Delhi, India, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

An electronic display at the New Delhi international airport shows that an American Airlines flight AA292 from New York was diverted to Rome, instead of its scheduled arrival at New Delhi, India, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

An electronic display at the New Delhi international airport shows that an American Airlines flight AA292 from New York was diverted to Rome, instead of its scheduled arrival at New Delhi, India, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

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