Overview

• An F-35C assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron VFA-125 “Rough Raiders” went down near NAS Lemoore around 6:30 p.m. on July 30.
• The pilot ejected successfully and was uninjured, with no other personnel affected.
• A resulting grass fire of about ten acres was contained by CAL Fire and base firefighters by 8:32 p.m.
• Naval and civilian authorities have opened a formal investigation into the cause of the crash.
• As the program’s second F-35 loss this year, the incident intensifies scrutiny of the jet’s reliability and its roughly $100 million unit cost.