An F-35 fighter jet crashed Wednesday near Naval Air Station Lemoore, California. Thankfully, the pilot survived.

KFSN reported, an investigation is underway as to what happened in the jet, which is part of the VFA-125 “Rough Raiders,” that caused the pilot to eject.

Flames were seen coming from a cotton field following the crash.

Although some may be quick to assume this was an inexperienced pilot who made a mistake, KFSN reported the aviator was a veteran flyer, who was taken by helicopter to a nearby hospital.

Footage of the aftermath was posted to social media platform X where flames and smoke were surrounded by emergency vehicles.

A US Navy F-35 fighter jet crashes in central California near Naval Air Station Lemoore, according to a Navy press statement.

The pilot ejected safely, and the cause of the crash, which occurred around 6:30 pm, is under investigation, the statement said.

A local EMS crew was at… pic.twitter.com/axpGUTVUOc

— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) July 31, 2025

NAS Lemoore commented, “The pilot successfully ejected and is safe. There are no additional affected personnel,” according to USA Today.

With the pilot safe, the conversation can pivot to another topic: cost.

According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the F-35 weapons program is expected to cost a staggering $2 trillion dollars over the next several decades.

The Pricer puts an individual jet’s price tag above $100 million.

Those totals are going to make a lot of Americans demand an explanation for why they’re seeing these jets crash.

Military.com documented a series of F-35 crashes prior to Wednesday, showing a troubling pattern.

On May 28, 2024, an F-35 crashed near Albuquerque, New Mexico, with the pilot ejecting, too. Another pilot ejected in September 2023 during an F-35 crash in South Carolina.

In December 2022, an F-35 crash occurred on the runway of Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas.

Following that crash, a “rare system phenomenon” was found in the engine used, the F135.

Granted, there is not an official pattern established among all of these crashes. They could very well be unrelated to one another.

But the Boeing 737 Max crashes over the course of several years have conditioned the public to ask questions when something like this happens regularly.

Thankfully, the pilot from Wednesday is OK, but if the F-35 is a safety concern given the series of crashes, now would be the time to address it before it costs the American taxpayers any more money and takes the life of a servicemember.

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