Caution Light Causes New Fighter Jet to Make Unscheduled Landing in Lubbock
By: Nick Ochsner
Updated: March 12, 2013
A spokesman for Lockheed Martin tells us that during a routine delivery flight today an F-35A Lightning II conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) aircraft landed at the Lubbock International Airport after experiencing an in-flight caution warning.
They say the pilot, following standard operating procedures, landed the aircraft without incident. The pilot is safe and the aircraft is secure at this time.
The aircraft took off from the Lockheed Martin F-35 production facility in Fort Worth at approximately 12:42pm for a flight to Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. After the caution warning occurred, the jet landed at Lubbock IA at 1:40 p.m.
They tell us a maintenance team from Lockheed Martin is being dispatched to the Lubbock IA to determine the cause of the incident and repair the jet for flight.
Until the maintenance team arrives in Lubbock, National Guardsmen will keep watch over the plane, which is parked on the ramp at Lubbock Aero.
We're told movement on the ramp was restricted and ramp workers tried to limit photography of the top-secret plane.