"This was a U.S. Government-owned and operated aircraft that was being flown by a government pilot who safely ejected," the manufacturer said in an emailed statement to USA TODAY. "The aircraft was a test jet equipped with Technology Refresh 2 (TR-2) and was transferring to Edwards AFB for additional test equipment modification."

An F-35 fighter jet has crashed at Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks in Alaska, according to witnesses and base officials. The pilot ejected before the crash and was taken to hospital for evaluation. The accident happened at 12:49 p.m. local time on Tuesday when the jet went down within the fence line of the military base. A worker at the base recorded the crash and the resulting explosion.

'I can assure you the United States Air Force will conduct a thorough investigation in hopes to minimize the chances of such occurrences from happening again.' Townsend also told reporters that the pilot had been executing 'standard procedures' at the time of the incident. He added: 'I think it is premature to speculate on the causes of the incident, essentially [the pilot] experienced an inflight malfunction, was safely able to eject, but resulted in the crash of the aircraft.'