Breaking- F-35 down at Hill AFB-Oct 2022

The 388th Fighter Wing at Hill AFB has confirmed that an F-35 crashed this afternoon off the end of the runway at the base. The pilot ejected safely before the crash. Confirmation was posted 20 minutes ago, so more details will be posted as they become available.

An F-35 from the 388th crashed at the north end of the runway
@HAFB
. Pilot ejected. Emergency crews are responding.

twitter.com...

POS plane or this is a lie, not saying OP isn't reporting something.
a reply to: Zaphod58

originally posted by: scottobereal
POS plane or this is a lie, not saying OP isn't reporting something.
a reply to: Zaphod58

care to elaborate I'm not sure if I follow, are saying the aircraft is POS?

www.abc4.com...

HILL AFB, Utah (ABC4) – Emergency crews are responding to a crashed F-35 jet on the north end of the runway at Hill Air Force Base (AFB) near Layton.

The 388th Fighter Wing, which operates out of Hill AFB, said in a tweet that the pilot ejected prior to the crash.

The condition of the pilot or if the the jet had any other occupants is currently unknown.

This is a developing story. ABC4 will update this story as more information becomes available.

a reply to: scottobereal

This marks the seventh crash of F-35s around the world, and the ninth hull loss (seven crashes, two mishaps that didn't result in crashes). In April of this year the program surpassed 500,000 flight hours. No other aircraft in history has flown that many hours, with that few losses. The F-16, considered one of the better fighters ever built, lost 9 aircraft in less than 40,000 flight hours. The F-15 lost 15 aircraft by the first 136,000 flight hours.

As for any other reports about it, there are lots of reports from people that don't have a clue how the F-35 changes aerial warfare talking about how bad it is.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: scottobereal

This marks the seventh crash of F-35s around the world, and the ninth hull loss (seven crashes, two mishaps that didn't result in crashes). In April of this year the program surpassed 500,000 flight hours. No other aircraft in history has flown that many hours, with that few losses. The F-16, considered one of the better fighters ever built, lost 9 aircraft in less than 40,000 flight hours. The F-15 lost 15 aircraft by the first 136,000 flight hours.

As for any other reports about it, there are lots of reports from people that don't have a clue how the F-35 changes aerial warfare talking about how bad it is.

If goven a choice between a Volkswagen and an F35, yeah F35 all day baby!

I wonder how f35s would do against a barrage of ManPads. Seeing how Ukraine crippled Russias air superiority with those I think that will be a challenge for the future, since most armies will see how effective and cost efficient they are now.

Another take away from that war and something to overcome in the future is the combination of drones and all sorts of artillery.

For example both these factors will make walkover like Iraq almost impossible.

a reply to: ElitePlebeian

MANPADS are only effective at low level. The highest altitude a MANPADS can reach up to is about 13,000 feet. The F-35 and other aircraft, using PGMs will remain well above MANPADS altitude.

The 388th confirmed that the pilot ejected and was taken to the Med Center for evaluation.

Reports now of smoke from the engine just before he ejected.

a reply to: scottobereal

I live near HAFB. He speaks the truth.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
Reports now of smoke from the engine just before he ejected.

Sounds like a shelled out motor... maybe an ingested bird?

We had ducks drop an F-16 on take-off at Osan AB back in 02.

Jet engines shell out rather rapidly, when fed poultry.

originally posted by: scottobereal
POS plane or this is a lie, not saying OP isn't reporting something.
a reply to: Zaphod58

These things all have computer controlled flight systems, and they hire anti-war peacenik draft-dodgers to program them. Duh! That's what you get from the federal Office of Personnel Management and requiring government clearance with psychological profiles and relationship histories for corporate employees doing federal work on contract.

a reply to: madmac5150

Bird strike is my first guess. It would be right around the time birds would be heading home for the night.

a reply to: justinacolmena

Which, if the reports of smoke from the engine are true, has absolutely nothing to do with what happened. The F-35 is by far the safest military aircraft ever developed to date.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: madmac5150

Bird strike is my first guess. It would be right around the time birds would be heading home for the night.

We had a Strike Eagle divert into Shaw AFB back in 01; this thing ingested waterfowl that completely shelled out the #1 engine. We had it parked in our Phase hanger for about a month... I saw it when they first brought it in. You could look down the #1 intake and see clear out the exhaust... completely devastated the engine.

Bird strikes are notorious for bringing down military aircraft. That would absolutely be my first guess.

a reply to: madmac5150

We aren't near any kind of runway, except a small GA airport, but one of the truck stops a few miles from us gets thousands of Grackles in the trees every night. They sit in the trees bitching, and sometimes they line up on the powerlines like the birds from that Pixar short story. It's absolutely insane to hear them all in the trees.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: madmac5150

Bird strike is my first guess. It would be right around the time birds would be heading home for the night.

Don't they have technology that would detect this sort of thing or are birds too small and unpredictable? I don't mean in a way that a pilot could do much about it but a warning that your about to make chicken wings in T minus 30 seconds type of thing.

a reply to: Brotherman

They have bird mitigation procedures for on the airfield, but avoiding birds is see and avoid once you’re in flight. Bird strikes cause millions in damage every year.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Brotherman

They have bird mitigation procedures for on the airfield, but avoiding birds is see and avoid once you’re in flight. Bird strikes cause millions in damage every year.

They should make a bird flu or something that makes them sick so they can't fly during happy hour.