F-35 crashes, pilot ejects

The U.S. military suffered its first crash of an F-35 when a Corps F-35B went down Friday at 11:45 a.m. outside Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, S.C. The pilot safely ejected. The cause was not specified and the incident is under investigation. The aircraft, which cost more than $100 million, belonged to Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501, which trains Marine pilots for combat with the F-35. (Source: Washington Post, 09/28/18) In unrelated F-35 news earlier in the week, the aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth, Britain’s 65,000-ton re-entry into carrier aviation, marked a historic moment Tuesday when Royal Navy Commander Nathan Gray and Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Andy Edgell touched down the first F-35B on the deck of the aircraft carrier The ship was on patrolling the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S. They were the first two British pilots to land on a British aircraft carrier in eight years and it marked the beginning of the Royal Navy’s developmental trials slated to last about two months. (Source: Defense News, 09/28/18) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 integrated training center. Previous