Incredible moment pilot EJECTS from £80million F-35B stealth fighter jet as it crashes nose down onto tarmac

THIS is the incredible moment a pilot ejected from a F-35B Lightning II fighter jet during a crash landing at a US naval airbase. The emergency exit happened at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth, Texas, with the pilot’s condition still unknown. TwitterFootage showed the fighter jet nosediving on the tarmac at a US naval base[/caption] TwitterThe incredible moment the pilot hits eject and catapults into the sky[/caption] The £80millon stealth fighter jet has been a part of the US Air Force since 2015 and has suffered issues with its vertical landing. The extraordinary footage showed the aircraft descending on the tarmac, slowly hovering down like a helicopter landing. As soon as the plane touched down it immediately bounced a few feet back into the air, moving forward before nosediving into the ground. The jet lost its footing and span 180 degrees with plumes of smoke tearing out of from beneath. As it appeared to steady, the pilot came rocketing out of the cockpit with a parachute in tow and drifted to the ground.  Lockheed Martin, jet producer and munitions contractor, acknowledged the crash in a statement. The company 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.” Lockheed Martin builds jets at the facility that shares a runway with the Navy base. The innovative jet took its first flight in 2006 but has been plagued with problems in recent years. In 2018, the Royal Air Force launched an investigation following a faulty tube in the plane that caused it to crash. However, the supersonic jet holds international recognition for its supreme warfare capabilities and has put Vladimir Putin on edge during his campaign in Ukraine. The world-class jet was also deployed by the US to help crush ISIS’s hold in Iraq and Syria. TwitterThe aircraft flipped and span 180 degrees as a result of the flawed vertical landing[/caption] TwitterThe fighter jet attempting to steady after its crash landing[/caption]