“At about 10 a.m. (local time, 5 p.m. Lithuanian time) an aviation incident occurred near the Marine Corps Miramar Air Force Base involving a Marine Corps F-35B fighter jet,” a base press representative told the news agency AFP.
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“The pilot ejected and was found,” he said.
A later military base statement said the pilot was taken to a medical facility, his “condition is stable, he is being evaluated and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.”
Videos circulated on social media show a plume of smoke rising from the aircraft, and firefighters were dispatched to extinguish the flames.
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The military base immortalized in a film with Tom Cruise
The Miramar Air Force Base is known worldwide as the former home of the US Navy’s elite pilot school “Top Gun,” featured in the 1986 film “Top Gun,” starring Tom Cruise.
Each F-35B costs about 109 million US dollars, according to the aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Martin.
