50-minute call with engineers: USAF pilot’s desperate bid to save snag-hit F-35; Alaska crash report released

An F-35 fighter jet crashed in Alaska after a landing gear malfunction. The pilot consulted with Lockheed Martin engineers for 50 minutes mid-air, attempting to resolve the issue. Touch-and-go landings worsened the situation, triggering an automated ground-operation mode, rendering the aircraft uncontrollable, leading to the pilot’s ejection and the jet’s destruction.