A Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) F-35A fighter jet had to make an emergency landing at Hakodate Airport (HKD) during a routine training.
According to Aviation Safety’s incident report, the emergency landing occurred at around 11:58 local time on December 8, 2021.
The fighter jet, which was a Lockheed Martin/Mitsubishi F-35A Lightning II with registration 99-8715, is based at the ASDF’s Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture.
The report said that during a routine training, the jet, which only had one occupant, the pilot, took off from Misawa at 11:15 local time. At 11:58 local time, the jet “suffered unreported trouble” while flying over the Sea of Japan, 190 kilometres west of Misawa. It was at that point that the jet started to make the emergency landing.
Another aircraft flying in formation with the F-35A also landed at Hakodate Airport, shortly before 1 p.m. No injuries have been confirmed among the pilots of the planes or others.
Footage of the aircraft taken after it landed was uploaded by local media:
航空自衛隊によりますと、午後0時18分ごろ、青森県の三沢基地に所属するF35戦闘機1機が、函館空港に緊急着陸したということです。
緊急着陸の理由は分かっておらず、航空自衛隊が詳しく調べています。https://t.co/XeDlxWAG3M#nhk_video pic.twitter.com/8PNsK5dXfj— NHKニュース (@nhk_news) December 8, 2021
No injuries have been reported. Hakodate Airport temporarily closed its runway due to the emergency landing for 10 minutes. One commercial flight was delayed for about 30 minutes.
The ASDF is still looking into the details of the incident to see what exactly caused the trouble.
