Overview

• The Jan. 28 mishap at Eielson AFB began when the nose landing gear failed to retract and sat canted left after takeoff in subzero temperatures.
• The pilot held for about 50 minutes as personnel consulted Lockheed Martin engineers, then performed two touch-and-go attempts to recenter the gear.
• Ice inside the main gear struts led weight-on-wheels sensors to misread the jet as on the ground, triggering ground-mode flight controls while airborne and causing loss of control.
• The pilot ejected safely and the aircraft, tail number 19-5535, crashed within the base perimeter with no injuries on the ground reported.
• The investigation found roughly one-third water in the hydraulic service barrel and documented significant procedure and recordkeeping lapses, with a similar nose-gear issue reported on another F-35A nine days later.