F-35 forced to land in Texas over caution light mishap

One of two F-35 fighter jets headed to a Nevada airbase was forced to make an emergency landing in Lubbock, Texas on Monday after a caution light came on in the cockpit.

The F-35A Lightning II jet was flying from a Lockheed plant in Fort Worth, Texas to Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas on Monday afternoon when a cautionary warning light came on, compelling the pilot to land at the nearest airport, according to Lockheed spokesman Michael Rein.

The aircraft had a safe emergency landing in Texas while the second craft landed as planned in the Nevada air base.

A maintenance team from Lockheed Martin was on the way to the Lubbock airport to determine what went wrong and repair the jet, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported.

The mishap with the emergency light is the latest of many problems reported about the new single-seat, single-engine Lockheed warplane, CS Monitor noted.

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Pentagon's most expensive ever weapons program, has been grounded twice over the course of the year over engine-related issues.