US Air Force F-35 crashes after pilot's 50-minute conference call with Lockheed engineers

Facepalm: Most people are familiar with the frustration of sitting through a lengthy conference call only to reach a disappointing outcome. A US Air Force F-35 pilot must have been particularly upset after his 50-minute airborne call with Lockheed Martin engineers did little to prevent the plane plunging to the ground soon afterward. Thankfully for the airman, he ejected safely before being incinerated in a fireball.

On January 28, a pilot flying the F-35 experienced an in-flight malfunction during a training mission at Eielson Air Force Base in Fairbanks. As you can see in the video, it caused the $200 million fighter jet to tumble to the ground and explode. The pilot ejected and suffered only minor injuries.

According to the report, the pilot tried to retract the plane's landing gear after it had taken off but it wasn't retracting completely. He then tried to lower the gear ...