December 15

What happened on December 15 in aviation and space history.

• December 15, 2006

  First flight of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

  First flight — The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II flew for the first time on 2006-12-15.

• December 15, 2022

  A factory-fresh F-35B crashes at Fort Worth

  Accident — An F-35B crashed during an acceptance flight at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, next to the plant where it had been built. The aircraft bounced off the runway in hover mode and the Lockheed Martin test pilot ejected at very low altitude with minor injuries. Video of the mishap circulated widely and the episode was attributed to an oscillation in the propulsion system.