By James Simons-
A British F-35 pilot flying from the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier had to eject during a routine operation over the Mediterranean, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.
The £100m stealth jet crashed into the sea during the incident, which took place at about 10am UK time, but the pilot was saved and has safely returned to the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and an investigation has begun.
No other vessels or aircraft were involved, defence sources said.
The accident took place shortly after the F-35 took off, the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, said, but despite the incident other operational and training flights involving the jets were carrying on for the moment.
An MoD spokesperson said: “A British F-35 pilot from HMS Queen Elizabeth ejected during routine flying operations in the Mediterranean this morning. The pilot has been safely returned to the ship and an investigation has begun, so it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”
HMS Queen Elizabeth is returning to the UK after a long deployment that has taken it through the Indian Ocean to the Pacific and back. Eight British and 10 US F-35Bs were deployed onboard before Wednesday.
It is the first accident involving an RAF F-35B, though there have been past accidents involving the fighter jets in the past three years. The most similar crash happened in September 2018, involving an F-35B, when the pilot, a US Marine, had to eject in South Carolina. Faulty engine tubes were blamed.
The crash will be investigated by the Defence Accident Investigation Branch, which usually takes several weeks before producing an initial report. A final report typically takes about a year to complete.