Video of U.S. Pilot Ejecting During Slow-Motion Jet Crash Viewed 8.2M Times

A video of a U.S. pilot ejecting from an F-35B Lightning II combat jet during a crash landing has been viewed over eight million times on Twitter alone.

The incident took place on Thursday as the aircraft descended to land on a runway at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, in Texas.

The video posted online shows the F-35B jet slowly coming down to land before the front of its undercarriage appeared to buckle as it hit the tarmac, causing the aircraft to spin wildly.

The pilot, who has not been named, then activated their ejector seat and was thrown from the cockpit, spending seven seconds airborne before landing with the parachute partially opening to cushion the fall.

Matthew Montgomery, a spokesperson for the Defense Department's Contract Management Agency, said on Thursday the pilot had been taken to hospital as a precaution, but did not appear to have suffered any serious injury.

The F-35B Lightning II is the U.S. Marine variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, and has the capacity for short takeoff and vertical landing.

Speaking to the Washington Post, Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said the aircraft in question was owned by manufacturer Lockheed Martin, but flown by a "U.S. government pilot." It was not specified whether the pilot was a member of the American military.

Speaking to local network KDFW Chris Cook, police chief of the nearby White Settlement, revealed his force received requests for assistance from both the Naval Air Station and Lockheed Martin.

He said: "The call was that a military aircraft had crashed on the base, it's on their perimeter side of the fence, and that the pilot had ejected."

Police officers responded to help secure the scene, and control traffic on an adjacent road.

Lockheed Martin acknowledged the accident in a statement, which said: "We are aware of the F-35B crash on the shared runway at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth and understand that the pilot ejected successfully.

"Safety is our priority, and we will follow appropriate investigation protocol."

The F-35B first entered Marine Corps service in 2015, with the non-vertical landing F-35A version beginning service, with the U.S. Navy and Air Force, in 2016 and 2019 respectively.

In October a F-35A crashed at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, though the pilot was able to eject and was taken for medical treatment as a precaution.

The pilot, a member of the 388th Fighter Wing, was returning from a routine training mission when the incident took place.

Colonel Craig Andrle, who commands the 388th Fighter Wing, said: "All of us as pilots take every opportunity we have to mitigate the damage to anything on the ground, so I do know that the pilot made his best effort to avoid any buildings or anything on the ground prior to ejection."

In November 2021 another F-35, in the service of Britain's Royal Navy, crashed into the sea shortly after taking off from HMS Queen Elizabeth. The pilot was able to eject and was recovered safely.

Two months later, in January 2022, a U.S. F-35 pilot crashed in the South China Sea whilst attempting to land on aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson. The pilot, and six sailors, were injured in the incident.

Video taken from the USS Carl Vinson later showed the aircraft hit the carrier's rear, causing it to skid across the deck before plummeting into the sea.

In September the U.K. and Japan announced they will collaborate on the design of their next-generation fighter jets, which are intended to enter service in the early 2030s.

Newsweek has contacted The Department of Defense for comment.