The stealth capabilities of a U.S. fighter jet appear to be functioning too well, as it took hours for officials to find a debris field after an F-35 went missing after the pilot evacuated due to a “mishap.”
Officials said without providing more information that the debris was found Monday evening, some two hours northeast of Joint Base Charleston, an air base in North Charleston.
The base was collaborating with Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort to “locate an F-35 that was involved in a mishap” on Sunday afternoon.
The F-35B Lightning II jet’s pilot was able to safely exit the vehicle and was transported to a nearby hospital in stable condition, the company reported in a Facebook post at 5:35 p.m. ET.
The 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing verified the “mishap” on Sunday and that “the pilot had safely ejected from the aircraft.” The jet is a member of one of the unit’s training squadrons.
“An investigation into the incident is ongoing.” The 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing’s spokesperson, Captain Joe Leitner, stated.
When the pilot ejected from the jet, it was in autopilot mode, according to Jeremy Huggins, a spokesman at Joint Base Charleston. Authorities thought there was a chance it might have stayed in the air for a while.
A request for comment from the FAA did not receive a prompt response. It was not immediately clear what led to the pilot ejecting from the aircraft.
In a statement, Joint Base Charleston stated that it cooperated with Marine Corps and Navy units and leaders, as well as the FAA, Civil Air Patrol, and local law enforcement agencies around South Carolina. The base reported that “both ground and air assets” were being used in the search.
Huggins declined to elaborate when asked whether the plane had crashed early on Monday. However, he assured her that more details will be provided. The Marines responded to additional inquiries at Joint Base Charleston by stating that they were unable to disclose “additional details to preserve the integrity of the investigative process.”
Huggins added that because of the jet’s last-known location and in accordance with the Federal Aviation Administration, searchers originally concentrated their efforts north of the air base, near Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion. On Monday afternoon, that effort was expanded because searchers had little success in the initial search area.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-South Carolina, expressed her outrage over the incident in a social media post by asking, “How in the hell do you lose an F-35?”
She asked in her letter, “How is there no tracking device and we’re expecting the public to, oh, locate a plane and turn it in?
The “most advanced fighter jet in the world,” as well as the “most lethal, stealth, and survivable aircraft,” are how the aerospace behemoth Lockheed Martin describes the F-35 series on its website.
Three single-seat models of the F-35 family are available: the F-35A jet with conventional takeoff and landing, the F-35B model with short takeoff and vertical landing, and the F-35C carrier.
