NEWS
Debris Field Located For Missing F-35 After ‘Mishap’ In South Carolina
Courtesy of Wikipedia
Officials searching for an F-35 that went missing on Sunday after its pilot ejected due to a “mishap” located a debris field Monday evening in South Carolina’s Williamsburg County, according to Joint Base Charleston.
The remains of the missing F-35B Lightning II fighter jet were located about “two hours northeast” of Joint Base Charleston in North Charleston, and members of the community were urged to avoid the area while the recovery team secured the debris field. Joint Base Charleston said incident command was transferred to the U.S. Marine Corps.
Joint Base Charleston said in a statement Sunday evening that it was working with Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort to locate the missing F-35, from Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, and asked the public to assist military and civilian authorities in their search.
Before safely ejecting, the pilot put the F-35 on autopilot, per reports. The pilot was transported to a local medical center in stable condition.
The F-35 should have been equipped with a transponder to track its location, but it’s unclear why it wasn’t working. The circumstances of the “mishap” that prompted the pilot to eject remain unclear, and the incident is under investigation, officials said.
On Monday, acting commandant Gen. Eric Smith initiated a two-day “safety stand down” for Marine aviation, after three major aviation incidents in recent weeks.
“During the safety stand down, aviation commanders will lead discussions with their Marines focusing on the fundamentals of safe flight operations, ground safety, maintenance and flight procedures, and maintaining combat readiness. This stand down being taken to ensure the service is maintaining operational standardization of combat-ready aircraft with well-prepared pilots and crews,” Smith said in a statement.
“This pause invests time and energy in reinforcing the Marine aviation community’s established policies, practices and procedures in the interests of public safety, protecting our Marines and sailors and ensuring the Marine Corps remains a ready and highly-trained fighting force.”
Prior to the F-35 mishap on Sunday, there were two deadly crashes in August.
On Aug. 24, Maj. Andrew Mettler was piloting an F/A-18D Hornet during a training flight originating from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., when he was killed in a crash. Three days later, Maj. Tobin Lewis, Capt. Eleanor LeBeau and Cpl. Spencer Collart were killed when their MV-22B Osprey helicopter crashed during training exercises off the coast of northern Australia, and five other marines were hospitalized.
TMX contributed to this article.
