A pilot ejected safely from a US Air Force F-35 after reporting trouble maneuvering before the jet crashed north of Creech Air Force Base in southern Nevada on March 31, 2026, according to local media reports.
Citing Nellis Air Force Base media operations, News 3 said the crash happened about 25 miles northeast of Indian Springs on the Nevada Test and Training Range. The outlet reported that the pilot was recovered and treated for minor injuries.
The crash site was well away from populated areas. Indian Springs sits just outside the vast range complex used by the Air Force and other military services for test and combat training, and the wreckage came down inside the restricted area.
The crash is the latest in a short but notable list of Lockheed Martin F-35 crashes.
In September 2018, a Marine Corps F-35B crashed near Beaufort, South Carolina, with the pilot ejecting safely. An Air Force F-35A crashed on landing at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida in May 2020, and that pilot also ejected safely.
Another Air Force F-35A crashed at Hill Air Force Base in Utah in October 2022, with the pilot treated and released. An F-35A was also destroyed at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska on January 28, 2025, after an in-flight emergency during landing. In that case, the pilot survived with minor injuries.
One fatal F-35 crash occurred, on April 9, 2019, when a Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-35A went down in the Pacific during a training mission, killing the pilot. That crash was later attributed to spatial disorientation.
