A video circulating on social media appears to show the fiery crash of a Marine Corps F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in southern California following a mid-air collision with one of the service’s KC-130J Hercules refueling aircraft.
Miraculously, all involved survived the incident.
The video, first reported by our friends at The War Zone, was taken by observers on the ground and shows the aircraft plummeting to the earth followed by a massive fireball:
https://twitter.com/vladwlad777/status/1311349515300024321
The F-35B pilot was able to eject successfully and is currently undergoing treatment for unspecific injuries, a Marine Corps spokesman told Military.com.
According to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, the KC-130J made an emergency landing close to nearby Thermal Airport, where an unspecified number of crew members are undergoing treatment for “mild injuries.”
https://twitter.com/fighterpics/status/1311220434680066048
The Class A mishap, the Marine Corps’s third this year, is currently under investigation, Military.com reports.
The Marine Corps’s F-35 variant currently costs just over $100 million per aircraft.
Related: Marine Corps F-35 crashes after colliding with C-130 during refueling exercise