An F-35B jet en route to California from Fort Worth crashed in New Mexico on Tuesday after stopping to refuel at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque.

Lockheed Martin, which produces the aircraft in Fort Worth, did not immediately respond to a Star-Telegram request for information, nor did a spokesperson for Kirtland Air Force Base.

Lockheed told Star-Telegram news partner WFAA-TV on Wednesday that the jet crashed after stopping to refuel and that the pilot was able to safely eject from the plane.

The test jet was government-owned and operated, flown by a government pilot, Lockheed told WFAA. It was headed to Edwards Air Force Base in California for new test equipment modification. The crash happened around 2 p.m. Tuesday and the pilot is recovering at a hospital. The jet crashed and burst into flames.

Lockheed told WFAA it is investigating the crash.

“Safety is our priority, and we will follow appropriate investigation protocol,” the company said in a statement to WFAA.

An F-35B crashed at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth in 2022, another incident in which the pilot was able to eject safely. The jet hovered while landing but when it hit the ground it bounced upward, tilted on its nose and spun in a circle before tilting on its side.

Another crash near the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in North Texas happened in 2021, when a T-45C Goshawk jet trainer aircraft assigned to Training Air Wing 3 crashed in a Lake Worth neighborhood, about two miles from the base. The jet was assigned to the Naval Air Station in Kingsville.

The Navy jet crashed in a back yard between the 4000 blocks of Tejas Trail and Dakota Trail, Lake Worth police said at the time. The crash was caused by a bird strike, an investigation later found. Both pilots were able the eject and survived, though one was critically injured.