Military Grounds Some F-35s Following Crash in Texas

@MAJ Robert Thornton
..."That crash followed a string of incidents and mishaps this year ranging from ejection seat supply issues to a high-profile recovery of an F-35 that crashed in the ocean.

But those incidents will likely not raise a lot of red flags in Congress or the Pentagon, according to Jeremiah Gertler, a senior associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, D.C., who specializes in aviation, told Military.com.

"I think people who are experienced in military aircraft programs, as many Congress members are, will look at that and say, 'These are the things that typically kind of happen during training and early production,'' Gertler said. "We don't know yet what happened specifically with that F-35B crash. ... It's the difference between a problem with the program and problems with individual airplanes."

Video footage shared by CBS News' Dallas-Fort Worth station online shows the F-35B coming in for a vertical landing on the runway; shortly after touching down, the aircraft's nose cone smashes into the ground. The jet begins to quickly spin around the pavement.

The pilot quickly ejected from the F-35B, according to the footage, with his parachute opening feet before the pilot hit the ground. The jet then came to a stop.

The pilot was an Air Force major who had been doing performance quality checks on behalf of the Defense Contract Management Agency. Shortly after the incident, he was released from the hospital and suffered only minor injuries.

The F-35B "had not been transferred to the U.S. government yet," according to Pentagon officials, which is typical for aircraft that are still being tested by the manufacturer, in this case Lockheed Martin."...

Not reading or hearing good things about the F-35.

As with most plane deliveries , from the time of it first being contracted to the pick up date... and beyond. The plane's bugs are not fully solved by the manufacturer. It is the Branches responsibility to ID those flaws and work them out.. ever since WWII it's been this way.