F-35 Loses critical Systems, formation Lead Pilot helps the aircraft land safely

On 27 October 2021, a four-ship formation of Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) F-35A Lightning II jets — tail numbers F-015 (), F-016 (), F-017 (), and F-018 () — was operating near Burlington, Vermont, USA. During recovery to Burlington International Airport, (F-017) suffered serious radio and systems malfunctions (CNI failure: Communications, Navigation, Identification), preventing normal ATC contact and transponder operation. Lead aircraft (F-015) coordinated with Burlington Approach and Tower to locate the stricken jet.

The Formation Recovery

Poor weather made it harder, requiring to descend below clouds, visually acquire over Lake Champlain, and rejoin in close formation. Due to low fuel and the systems failure, the pilots decided to conduct a formation landing on Runway 15. landed safely and shut down immediately at the End of Runway (EOR).

The incident demonstrated excellent airmanship by both RNLAF pilots and effective coordination with Burlington ATC, ensuring a safe outcome despite degraded systems, challenging weather, and airspace confusion. Audio Courtesy

The event is best understood as a communications-and-systems recovery rather than as an ordinary formation landing. The affected F-35 lost normal communications, navigation and identification functions, which meant that the aircraft could not simply continue as a normal participant in the approach sequence.

The formation lead therefore became an important link between the aircraft in distress and Burlington ATC. The incident account describes poor weather and the need for the lead aircraft to establish visual contact with the affected jet. That made the formation itself part of the recovery solution.

No documented evidence establishes a final mechanical root cause for the CNI failures. It does establish the operational consequence: the aircraft lost normal contact with ATC and required assistance from its formation lead and controllers to complete the recovery.

The incident account identifies four RNLAF F-35As operating together and describes the affected aircraft as losing CNI capability. The practical consequence was significant: the aircraft could not rely on its normal radio, navigation and identification functions during the recovery.

The formation lead coordinated with Burlington Approach and Tower and helped controllers locate the affected aircraft. Weather further complicated the recovery, because the lead aircraft had to work to acquire the stricken aircraft visually.

The aircraft was recovered safely, but the reports reviewed do not identify the component-level cause of the systems failure.

Accident Facts

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