A fighter pilot safely ejected from a plane on Thursday (local time) after a failed landing that was caught on video at a North Texas military base.

The Marine Corps variant of a fighter jet, known as an F-35B, took a nose dive and spiralled after its wheels briefly touched down on the shared runway at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth. Video taken by people who were watching the plane land show it slowly descending in a straight line as smoke appears in the rear of the aircraft before the nose digs into the runway and the jet spins to a stop.

The F-35B has special modifications that allow it to take off and land vertically like a helicopter.

At the Pentagon, a spokesperson said that the aircraft was being flown at the time of the crash by a US government pilot, although it had not been transferred to the military yet by manufacturer Lockheed Martin.

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The pilot safely ejected from the airplane, according to Pentagon spokesperson Air Force General Pat Ryder. The condition of the pilot is not known.

About a dozen local officers responded to the base, where first responders and base personnel were already on site following the incident, said Chris Cook, police chief for the nearby city of White…