F-15 Eagle Vet🇺🇸

January 28, 2025. Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. F-35A 19-5535, 355th Fighter Squadron. An experienced evaluator takes off at 11:22 as number three in a four-ship. Seconds later the nose landing gear fails to retract. The wheel sits canted 17 degrees left. The pilot runs the checklists, then spends the next 50 minutes on a conference call with Lockheed Martin engineers and the supervisor of flying (SOF). They elect to try two touch-and-go landings to straighten the nose wheel. After the second T&G the main-gear struts also fail to fully extend. Every valid Weight-on-Wheels sensor now thinks the jet it is on the ground. Flight-control laws switch to "on-ground" mode while the aircraft is still airborne. The jet becomes uncontrollable. At 12:49 the pilot ejects. He walks away with a compression fracture and abrasions. The $196.5 million F-35 tumbles vertically and explodes just off the runway. Flight-line video by a KC-135 crew chief captured the last seconds. AIB finding: hydraulic fluid contaminated with water froze in the nose and main landing-gear struts, preventing full extension and triggering a false flight-control mode. Contributing factors included the decision to attempt a second touch-and-go instead of a planned full-stop landing or controlled ejection, plus gaps in HAZMAT oversight and servicing procedures. The deck was stacked against the pilot, but the driver stayed in the fight for nearly an hour, ran every option they gave him, and still got out when the jet finally quit. 🇺🇸🫡#F35 #LightningII #NeverQuit #AviationHistory #USAF

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