Originally Posted by
AirBear
The F-35B has an auto-eject function which the other 2 models don't have. Something to do with being in hover mode. The jet flew 60 miles after the ejection before crashing in a field.
It really sounds like the auto-eject feature caused this since the jet flew on for that long before impacting what looked like rising terrain:
https://apnews.com/article/f35-crash...%20Subscribers
Anything's possible I guess, but you'd think there would be multiple safety interlocks on an auto-eject feature... fan door open, fan engaged, correct FCTL mode, etc, etc.
I'd think that 1000' AGL would be too high for STOVL mode on departure, but if it was on arrival the pilot may have been transitioning to STOVL.