F-35 Crash: 50-Minute Airborne Conference Call Couldn't Save $200M Fighter Jet
2025-08-27
An F-35 fighter jet crashed in Alaska due to ice in the landing gear preventing proper deployment. The pilot spent 50 minutes on a conference call with Lockheed Martin engineers trying to troubleshoot the issue before ejecting. The investigation revealed significant water contamination in the aircraft's hydraulic system and a failure to heed warnings about sensor issues in extreme cold, leading to flawed decision-making and the loss of the $200 million aircraft.
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