This F-35B Vertical Landing Didn’t Go That Well

A dramatic video taken yesterday by Kitt Wilder and posted on Twitter by numerous users shows an F-35B appear to make a successful vertical landing near Lockheed Martin’sLMT
Fort Worth, Texas F-35 production facility – until it all goes wrong.

The aircraft was officially attempting to land at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth adjacent to Lockheed’s Lighting II assembly line. In the video, the F-35 descends vertically as normal with its gear, horizontal stabilators, upper and lower lift-fan doors in position and its engine nozzle pointed downward. Its descent rate appears appropriate but on touch-down the airplane bounces, possibly indicating a sink rate that was too high. After the bounce, the F-35B suddenly pitches forward striking its nose on the runway.

On the final descent some sort of smoke or steam can be seen emanating from the gimballed rear engine nozzle. It’s difficult to tell from the audio if a sudden throttle input was made as the footage progresses.

The airplane surges forward and simultaneously rotates counterclockwise on the runway while rolling onto its right wing. After approximately 180 degrees of rotation, it then pivots back toward its initial forward vector, the sound of Pratt & Whitney F135 evident. As the F-35 rolls left, back onto its main gear and again surges forward, the pilot ejects.

The aircraft’s Martin-Baker MK16 ejection seat fires and performs as advertised in a zero-altitude ejection scenario, likely saving the pilot from serious injury. Its performance is noteworthy given not only the circumstances but the fact that earlier this year a problem with the explosive cartridge devices which fire the seats was discovered at Hill AFB in Utah.

The Air Force’s Air Combat Command subsequently grounded 300 F-35s in late July. After inspection, most of the Martin-Baker seats were found to be operable and F-35s were largely returned to flight status by early August.

As the pilot descends from perhaps 150 feet in the air with a fully blossomed parachute, the F-35 has come to a rest in a largely wings-level attitude on its nose. The footage concludes as the pilot hits the ground and his chute spills.

In response to a question about the accident later today, Pentagon Press Secretary, Brigadier General Patrick Ryder (USAF) said that the F-35B was Lockheed-owned and had yet to be transferred to the military. He confirmed that it was being flown by a U.S. government pilot without divulging the individual’s identity. The pilot – who may have been a miliary member or a Defense Contracting Managment Agency employee – was reported safe and under observation.

While any analysis of the accident is preliminary and based on assumptions, the evolution of the landing hints at possible engine control issues. After the airplane bounces, it immediately pitches forward suggesting a possible dissymmetry of thrust between the forward lift-fan exhaust and the downward-rotated rear exhaust nozzle. If the forward lift-fan was expelling significantly less thrust than the rear nozzle, such a pitching moment might be expected.

It’s reasonable to surmise that this was a new-build F-35B, recently out-of-build from Lockheed’s production line. After a series of ground checks of all of their systems, freshly-minted airplanes are typically taken aloft on a production test flight to ensure the functionality of their baseline systems while in the air. There are also military acceptance test flights wherein a military pilot formally accepts an aircraft on behalf of one of the services.

Wilder’s reaction to what he’s witnessing can be heard on the video which had as of late Thursday racked up over two million views. It will surely be viewed many more times by Pentagon investigators, personnel from the F-35 Joint Program Office, Lockheed Martin and the Marine Corps. If the problem is determined to apply more broadly than to this single airplane, expect news on the F-35B fleet flight status soon.