DAVIS COUNTY, Utah — An investigation is underway and local flying operations have been temporarily cancelled as officials look into what caused a crash involving an F-35 plane Wednesday night.
The pilot of the plane was forced to eject before the crash that happened at the North end of the base runway.
Officials said the pilot was fairly low to the ground when he ejected and was taken to the hospital for minor injuries before being released shortly after.
"It's a traumatic experience that not all of us go through," said Col. Craig Andrle, Commander of the 388th Fighter Wing. "He's doing okay right now and we have a lot of resources for him."
The F-35 Lightning II involved in the crash was "totally destroyed," Col. Andrle said. The damage estimate related to the crash is still under investigation.
Five other F-35s from the 388th Fighter Wing were diverted to Salt Lake City International Airport and will return to the base soon, officials said. Local flying at the base was cancelled Thursday and leaders are determining when flying will resume.
An interim safety board has been established to start the investigation process, however, there's no timeline for when the investigation may be concluded.
Until the investigation is complete, officials said they won't be able to release other information such as what caused the crash.
"Flying military aircraft is a risky business, we all understand that," said Col. Andrle. "So these things do happen. Thankfully they're fairly rare obviously we're going to take the time to figure out why it happened and to see if there's anything we need to do differently in the future."
Since the crash happened at dusk Wednesday evening, it was difficult for officials to identify and process the scene of debris. Thursday morning, they were able to get a more full picture of what was left.
"We're looking at a debris field of several hundred yards," explained Col. Jeff Holland, Air Base Wing and Installation Commander. "Thankfully the majority of that debris field is on federal property on the installation. We have a small portion that may be in South Weber that we're taking a look at now and working to identify."
Officials said if a resident finds a piece of debris on their property like fiberglass or metal that they think could be related to the crash, it's important to not touch it and instead just call authorities.
Besides any debris, Col. Holland reported there were no other environmental concerns in relation to the crash.
Col. Andrle and Col. Holland thanked the public and first responders for their help in initially responding to the crash and in sending in videos that are now helping in the investigation process.
"We appreciate it, all of it has been useful to us," Col. Andrle explained.
If any member of the public saw anything or finds anything that may be related to the crash, call 801-777-0911 or email 75abw.pa@us.af.mil
