F-35 fikk brann under avgang

Military's pricey F-35 fighter jet catches fire during takeoff in Florida

Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II lifts off during testing at Edwards Air Force Base in March 2013. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)


The F-35 fighter jet program is billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule.

The F-35 is supposed to take off and land on runways and aircraft carriers and hover like a helicopter.
A fire broke out on a F-35 Joint Strike Fighter after an attempted takeoff at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

The radar-evading, supersonic fighter jet, a nearly $400-billion weapons program under development for more than a decade, experienced the emergency on the ground Monday at 7:15 a.m. Pacific time.

The aircraft was preparing to take off on a training mission, but aborted due to flames that appeared in the back end of the aircraft. Emergency responders then moved in and extinguished the fire with foam, according to an Air Force statement.

The pilot left the aircraft uninjured, officials said.

It's the latest setback for the F-35 program, which is billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule. The per-plane cost estimates have gone from $78 million in 2001 to $135 million today, according to the Government Accountability Office.