A Marine Corps F-35B stealth fighter jet crashed near its base in San Diego on Friday morning, sending a massive plume of black smoke into the air visible for miles around. The pilot ejected safely and is expected to survive, according to military officials.
The F-35B Lightning II went down just before 10 a.m. Pacific Time at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, located about 14 miles north of downtown San Diego. The aircraft was assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 11 of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, both based at the station.
According to radio communications recorded by aviation monitors, an air traffic control tower alerted firefighters of an “F-35 short final crash,” indicating the aircraft was approaching the runway for landing when it went down. The jet struck the ground in a dirt field near the flight line and erupted into flames, igniting a vegetation fire on the base.
The Marine Corps classified the incident as a “Class A mishap,” the most severe category used when damage exceeds $2 million, an aircraft is destroyed, or a service member is killed. A single F-35B costs approximately $109 million. The destroyed aircraft represents a significant loss of military hardware.
The pilot ejected from the single-seat fighter and deployed a parachute before impact. Military personnel recovered the pilot and transported them to a local medical facility. In an updated statement, the Marine Corps said the pilot was “in stable condition for evaluation and treatment of non-life-threatening injuries,” though specific details about the injuries were not disclosed.
Aerial video from news helicopters showed extensive damage to the aircraft, which lay in at least two pieces amid a scorched field roughly the size of a football field. Emergency responders, including military and civilian firefighting crews, deployed flame retardant and water to suppress the wreckage fire and surrounding vegetation fire. The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department assisted with containing the brush fire that sparked near the crash site.
One witness who observed the incident while waiting at an airport gate told observers they watched the parachute deploy before the explosion, expressing hope for the pilot’s safety and suggesting the pilot appeared to intentionally direct the aircraft away from populated areas during the emergency.
The F-35B Lightning II is one of several variants of the advanced fifth-generation stealth fighter. The “B” version is specifically designed for the Marine Corps and features an engine engineered for short takeoffs and vertical landings, capabilities that make it particularly useful for operations on aircraft carriers and austere airfields.
The Marine Corps did not immediately provide details about the purpose of the flight, whether the aircraft was departing or arriving, or whether it was conducting a training mission. Officials said the cause of the crash is under investigation, and the Marine Corps did not specify when additional details might be released.
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar is home to about 15,000 military personnel from all service branches. The installation was historically significant as the location of the Navy fighter pilot training school depicted in the original “Top Gun” movie, earning it the nickname “Fightertown USA” during its heyday.