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Pilot Ejects on Runway ,,,,,,,
forgemonkey
Member Posts: 1,177 ✭✭✭✭
Comments
That looks expensive!
The Marine version of the F-35 (like this one) is the most complex, and most difficult to fly. If this was an acceptance flight by a company guy, I am going to assume that he intended to do a "bounce and go" type landing. Touchdown went normally. However, when the power was advanced to take off, the lift fan did not appear to advance or lagged the main engine. That produced the tail lift and nosedown.
After that, it gets hard to analyze. Questions are: why did the power stay up? why did he choose to eject?
I won't second-guess his ejection decision. The power anomaly and possible fan anomaly however are very curious.
The F-35 is one of the safest jets ever flown, based on accidents per flight hour. The bugs that some people keep quoting were rectified years ago. The F-35s based here in Utah have been flying combat missions in the Middle East for several years now, with good results. I speak with F-35 pilots often, and they are unanimous in their praise of it.
BTW, I'd bet that one is repairable. Better yet, they have all of it intact to do the investigation.