The incident took place at around noon and involved an F-35A aircraft from the 61st Fighter Squadron located at Luke Air Force Base, the service said in a statement. No serious injuries seem to have been sustained by the pilot or nearby crew.
"The pilot had to egress the aircraft during engine start due to a fire from the aft section of the aircraft," Air Force spokesman Capt. Mark Graff said in an email. "The fire was extinguished quickly. As a precautionary measure, four 61st Aircraft Maintenance Unit Airmen, three Airmen from the 366th Maintenance Group and the 61st Fighter Squadron pilot were transported to the base medical center for standard evaluation."
Seven F-35As from Luke AFB, which is one of the bases responsible for joint strike fighter pilot instruction, had deployed to Mountain Home to conduct surface-to-air training from Sept. 10 to 24.
The root cause of the event is under investigation, Graff stated. (end of excerpt)
Click here for the full story, on the Defense News website.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: According to several online media outlets, the incident happened at 9:30 local time (12:30 EST), and the fire was quickly extinguished.
“Initial assessments point to a tailpipe fire due to strong tailwinds as the engine was starting,” Aviation week reported Sept. 25 quoting “multiple sources.” “This can happen after an aborted start if there is excess fuel left in the exhaust duct.”
The US Air Force has provided no photographs of the aircraft, and has not detailed what damage it sustained.
In fact, the Air Force has so far not acknowledged the incident, has issued no statement, and has not mentioned it on its social websites.
“A substantial portion of the jet’s surface was burned,” Aviation Week said, adding that “technicians will not know the full extent of the damage until they open the aircraft and examine interior components.”
This is the third time an F-35 is damaged by fire, Flightglobal noted. Aircraft AF-4 was damaged in 2011 and has since been repaired and is back in operation.
The second aircraft, AF-27, caught fire while preparing to take off in June 2014, and remains grounded as it was extensively damaged by the fire.)
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