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The Pentagon has grounded its entire fleet of 51 F-35 fighter jets after the discovery of a cracked engine blade.
The fault was detected during a routine inspection of an air force version of the jet (F-35A) at Edwards Air Force Base in California, said the Pentagon.
Different versions are flown by the navy and the marine corps. All have been grounded.
The F-35 is the Pentagon’s most expensive weapons programme. with a cost of nearly $400 billion.
The Pentagon said flight operations would remain suspended until the root cause is established.
The Pentagon has grounded its entire fleet of 51 F-35 fighter jets after the discovery of a cracked engine blade
Friday’s order was the second time in two months planes from the F-35 range have been grounded.
The marine corps variant (F-35B), a short take-off and vertical landing variant (STOVL), was grounded for nearly a month after a manufacturing defect caused a fuel line to detach just before a training flight in January.
The air force version takes off from, and lands on, conventional runways while the STOVL version takes off from shorter runways and lands like a helicopter.
With a top speed of 1,200 mph (1,930 km/h), the F-35 can fly almost twice as fast as the Harrier, while it also has radar transparency and stealth capabilities – the Harrier had neither.
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Syrian rebels have produced footage of a man they claim is the captured pilot of a fighter jet that went down in the east of the country.
The rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) say they shot a military aircraft down near the Iraqi border.
But state media say the plane crashed because of “technical problems” and a search is under way to find the pilot.
Government forces have continued their advance in Aleppo, with reports of clashes in the west of the city.
According to Syria’s state-run news agency Sana, the plane that went down had suffered a fault with its “control mechanisms” during a routine training mission, forcing the pilot to abandon the aircraft.
Syrian rebels have produced footage of a man they claim is the captured pilot of a fighter jet that went down in the east of the country
The aircraft was shot down near the town of al-Muhassan, around 120 km (75 miles) from the Iraqi border in Deir al-Zour province, the rebels say.
The FSA says that one of the two-man crew died and that another has been captured.
A group calling itself the “Revolutionary Youth of the Land of the Euphrates” uploaded a video to YouTube purporting to show the captured pilot surrounded by three armed rebels, saying that his mission was to “bomb the town of al-Muhassan”.
In the video, which cannot be independently verified, the seemingly middle-aged man identifies himself as a pilot, Col. Fareer Mohammad Suleiman. He appears to have minor bruising to his face which he attributes to the plane crash.
In other footage provided by the rebels, what appears to be a Russian-built MiG-23 fighter jet is shown carrying two under-wing weapons pods thought to be loaded with air-to-ground missiles.
Anti-aircraft fire can be heard before the jet bursts into flames.
Rebel gunners are then heard on the footage celebrating.
If the rebels have succeeded in downing a MiG-23, it would be a significant moment in the conflict.
Reports have emerged recently of anti-aircraft weapons reaching rebels in Syria.
Earlier this week, photos were posted online by rebels showing them with a full surface-to-air missile system. This would pose a potential threat to the regime’s air power, correspondents say.
Meanwhile, activists say government forces have begun a new advance against rebels in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city. Aleppo has seen fierce clashes between the two sides in recent weeks.
Government forces entered the Saif al-Dawla neighborhood with tanks and armored vehicles, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The strategic northern district of Salah al-Din had been coming under bombardment since the morning, the Observatory said.
State media also said Syrian armed forces in central Homs province had killed a large number of “mercenary terrorists”.
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Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said the fighter jet shot down by Syrian air defense forces on Friday was in international airspace when it was hit.
Ahmet Davutoglu said the unarmed plane was not on a secret mission related to Syria, but had mistakenly entered Syrian airspace before the incident.
Syria maintains that it engaged the aircraft in its airspace “according to the laws that govern such situations”.
The Turkish and Syrian navies are still searching for the two crew members.
Ankara has promised its response will be strong, decisive and legitimate once it has ascertained all the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said the fighter jet shot down by Syrian air defense forces on Friday was in international airspace when it was hit
1. F-4 Phantom takes off from Erhac airbase, Turkey, at approximately 10:28 local time (07:28 GMT), on 22 June
2. Syria says the jet enters its airspace at 11:40 (08:40 GMT)
3. Turkish military loses contact with the plane at 11:58 (08:58 GMT), while it is over Hatay province
4. Syria says its air defenses engaged aircraft about 1 km (0.6 miles) from the coast and that it crashed into the sea 10 km (6 miles) west of Om al-Tuyour
A US Navy F-18 fighter jet has crashed into an apartment complex in the suburbs of Virginia Beach, Virginia, the Navy confirmed.
The fighter jet slammed into condos, town houses, and a retirement community, according to witnesses.
The two crew members ejected from the jet and were taken to a nearby hospital, but it is not yet known if there are any civilian casualties.
News footage showed smoke rising from numerous homes and the flaming wreckage lying on the ground.
The jet, confirmed to be a Delta two-seat model, apparently crashed at the Mayfield Mews apartment complex.
The Navy said in a news release that the jet was an F/A-18D assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 106 based at Naval Air Station Oceana.
The military organization said that the jet crashed shortly after takeoff at a site near the base at about 12:05 p.m. Both aviators ejected safely but were taken to a local hospital for observation.
Virginia Beach resident George Pilkington witnessed the crash, and told CNN the timeline of events, describing a few large explosions after the initial crash.
George Pilkington said: “It was emptying out fuel and the tail end was down. They (the crew members) must have ejected before they came down.”
He also said the engine sounded like it was “straining and stressing”.
A US Navy F-18 fighter jet has crashed into an apartment complex in the suburbs of Virginia Beach
Overhead helicopter video from WAVY-TV showed fire crews in the apartment complex with large ladders spraying water on multiple smoking buildings, one of which has part of its roof torn off.
Robert Matthias, assistant to Virginia Beach’s city manager, told The Associated Press crews are at the scene of an apartment complex where the jet crashed in what he described as a courtyard.
“So far, they haven’t found any casualties,” Robert Matthias said.
He described the area as residential, calling it an “anywhere but here” situation. While planes fly over the Virginia Beach area frequently, the F-18 crashed into a heavily residential area.
George Pilkington said that emergency crews responded in minutes to the crash.
Black smoke and flames were seen billowing out of what appeared to be a housing complex.
PilotOnline.com quoted a spokesman for Naval Air Force Atlantic who said the F/A-18 Hornet crashed Friday in the vicinity of Birdneck Road.
Another witness said that when the pilot came down he was still strapped to his ejector seat and had to be pulled out of the wreckage – when he immediately said sorry for the crash.
Retired Virginia Beach rescuer Pat Kavanaugh told CNN: “He apologized very much for hitting out complex and I told him: <<Don’t worry about it, everything’s going to be fine>>.
“I checked him over, did a body survey, he was in shock, still strapped to his seat so we picked him up, dragged him to the other side of the parking lot away from the fire.
“He had something on the lower half of his body, something heavy.
“I knew we have gas in the buildings, so I didn’t know if there were going to be secondary explosions.”
Naval Air Force Atlantic spokesperson Cmdr. Phil Rosi told the website that both aviators safely ejected from the plane.
The jet belongs to VFA’s Strike Fighter Squadron 106 – a training division for student pilots. Because of the crash, Virginia State police have shut down Interstate 264 in both directions.
People are being advised to stay away from the area.
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A US Navy F-18 fighter jet has crashed into apartment in the residential neighborhood of Virginia Beach, Virginia, local media reports.
The two crew members ejected but it is not yet known if there are any civilian casualties.
A Navy spokesman told local news station WAVY that the plane went down just before 12:30 and two crew members ejected safely.
TV News footage showed smoke rising from numerous homes and the flaming wreckage lying on the ground.
A US Navy F-18 fighter jet has crashed into apartment in the residential neighborhood of Virginia Beach
Reports said the plane may have hit an apartment block, with photos showing black smoke rising from behind houses.
Interstate 264 has been temporarily closed in both directions.
The plane is reported to have been based at the naval air station at Oceana, Virginia.
Local news station WTKR reports that a significant amount of damage has been done to an apartment building located near the centre of town.
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