F-35 pilot spent 50 minutes on airborne call with engineers before fighter jet crashed in Alaska

A US Air Force F-35 pilot spent at least 50 minutes on an airborne conference call with Lockheed Martin engineers trying to resolve a technical malfunction with his jet before he had to finally eject as the plane plunged to the ground in Alaska earlier this year, an accident report released this week revealed, CNN reported.

Footage shared on social media showed the jet dropping straight down and exploding in a fireball. The pilot was seen floating safely to the ground using a parachute.

JUST IN: F-35 fighter jet crashes at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska. The pilot survived pic.twitter.com/zEuPNY8jqk

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The crash took place on January 28 at Eielson Air Force Base in Fairbanks.

Ice in the hydraulic lines of the nose and main landing gears caused the crash by preventing proper deployment, according to a CNN-obtained report. After takeoff, the pilot tried to retract the landing gear but failed. When lowering it again, the nose gear locked at a left angle.

Attempts to fix the landing gear caused the fighter jet to think it was on the ground, ultimately leading to the crash, CNN reported.

The pilot joined a call with five Lockheed Martin engineers while flying near the base, spending nearly an hour troubleshooting the problem. He attempted two "touch and go" landings to straighten the jammed nose gear, but both failed, freezing the landing gears entirely. The jet's sensors indicated it was on the ground, making the aircraft "uncontrollable" and forcing the pilot to eject, the CNN report said.

An inspection of the aircraft’s wreckage found that about one-third of the fluid in the hydraulic systems in both the nose and right main landing gears was water, when there should have been none.

Nine days later, a similar "hydraulic icing" problem occurred at the same base, though that jet landed safely. The crash happened in temperatures of -18 degree Celsius.

The Air Force’s Accident Investigation Board concluded that “crew decision-making including those on the in-flight conference call,” lack of “oversight for the hazardous material program,” which oversees storage and distribution of the hydraulic fluid, and not properly following aircraft hydraulics servicing procedures, all contributed to the crash.