Japan Blames F-35 Fighter Crash on Pilot Disorientation
- U.S.-ally Japan pays as much as $140 million per stealth plane
- Pilot believed killed in crash at sea off northern Japan
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Japan believes pilot disorientation, rather than technical problems, caused the loss of one of its stealth F-35A fighter jets earlier this year, Kyodo News reported.
Findings compiled by Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force said the pilot was ordered to descend to a lower altitude to avoid a nearby U.S. plane during a training session in April. He responded calmly, but plunged at almost full speed into the ocean off Misawa Air base, in the north of Japan’s main island of Honshu, Kyodo reported Monday, citing the findings.