F-35 Jet Is Missing After Pilot Parachutes Free in South Carolina

[tonekat]

Source: New York Times

Military and government authorities continued a sweeping search on Monday for an F-35 jet that disappeared after a U.S. Marine pilot used an emergency parachute to eject from it on Sunday afternoon in North Charleston, S.C.

The pilot, who has not been publicly identified, was in an F-35 from Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. He was taken to a local medical center and his condition was stable late Sunday, Jeremy Huggins, a spokesman for Joint Base Charleston, said.

It was unclear why the pilot needed to eject. The search involved a broad range of government and military officials, including from the Marines, its Second Marine Aircraft Wing, Navy regional authorities in the Southeast, the Civil Air Patrol and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Law enforcement teams across the state were also assisting in the search.



Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/18/us/missing-f35-military-jet-charleston.html

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Could be in a body of water. Surprised they haven't found it yet.

[Evolve Dammit]

1. well it sure went somewhere. would have crashed unless controlled somehow.

[captain queeg]

2. Don't they almost always fly in pairs? The whole wingman thing?

[Lonestarblue]

3. There went many millions of taxpayer dollars! Glad the pilot is okay, though.

[getagrip_already]

4. Even in water, there would be a debris field.....

Stuff would be floating, especially on a lake. Fuel, oils, bits of insulation, parts that are naturally buoyant.

And on land there would be fire and a crash site. Bizarre.

[John1956PA]

8. In 1970, an unmanned USAF fighter jet landed intact in a cornfield.

As is the situation in this event, the pilot had ejected and the jet flew on. The jet is now on display in a museum.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornfield_Bomber

[getagrip_already]

11. Wow, talk about a lucky landing....

I guess it could have splashed down and stayed intact, or mostly so. But I have to believe fuel and other flotsam would surface.

Either that or some moonshine is gonna be pissed it crushed his still.

[John1956PA]

14. Thanks for your reply. See my "topography" post just below yours.

I am thinking that, in this event, the F-35 went into the ocean.

[John1956PA]

12. Of course, the topagraphy makes a difference. The 1970 landing was in Montana.

In this case, the hills and mountains in the Eastern U. S. would make such a pilotless landing unlikely.

[fargone]

5. Maybe it went out to sea

[kimbutgar]

6. Wouldn't they have some tracking unit on it?

[LymphocyteLover]

9. Right? How is this possible?

[Angleae]

10. Any active avionics would be in pieces after a crash.

And any small beacon/gps tracking pinger would be self-defeating (it is a "stealth" fighter after all, you really don't want them broadcasting constantly)

[getagrip_already]

15. They have commercial transponders on board, but it wasn't working

One of the stories mentioned it but didn't give a reason.

All military aircraft operating in US airspace have them, but they can be turned off for obvious reasons. They aren't supposed to be.

[James48]

7. Damn good stealth fighter.

Can’t find it anywhere.

Kudos to Lockheed Martin for the stealth ability.

[bringthePaine]

13. this doesn't pass the smell test🤨

[getagrip_already]

16. The wording of the official release raises the stink level....

They used the word "mishap", not "malfunction".

That is semantically closer to mistake than mechanical failure.

Maybe even malfeasance, as in some form of road rage?

[oldsoftie]

17. I didnt want to be the first to say it. Why didnt he eject? Why did he leave it on autopilot?

If it was flying why jot try to land it? Why no explanation like we lost ALWAYS get?

[Angleae]

18. He did eject from it.

From the OP:

"pilot used an emergency parachute to eject from it"

[oldsoftie]

19. Oh I see. Thank you. An earlier story just mentioned using an "emergency parachute"

Which made me think it WASNT an ejection since it didnt use there tern. I dont even know if NOT using the ejection system but still getting out is a possibility.

[Angleae]

20. At normal flight speeds, leaving the cockpit of a fighter without ejecting is usually lethal.

Going from 0 knot wind speed to 300 knots in an instance with nothing to brace you is very bad. Hitting the tail at 300 knots is worse.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

21. What, no "I've fallen and can't get up" alert? - Jet found, local news attached..

Missing no more: Marine fighter jet found in rural SC
The Post and Courier
Charleston, S.C.
By Glenn Smith, Tyler Fedor, Thad Moore, John Ramsey and Ali Rockett
Sep 18, 2023 Updated 5 hrs ago

(snips)

The hunt for a missing Marine Corps fighter jet ended with wreckage found in a rural expanse of farmland and swamp on Sept. 18 after a massive search across South Carolina for the elusive $90 million plane.
--
Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Walter Shutler told The Post and Courier just after 6 p.m. that authorities had located the wreckage. “It will take days to get this thing dug up,” Shutler, the incident commander, said.

The unmanned plane was found more than 63 miles from the North Charleston backyard where the pilot landed more than 24 hours earlier.

Flying in autopilot mode with a faulty transponder, the jet then blasted off into the unknown with little indication as to when its fuel would run out or where the expensive piece of military hardware would come down.
---
A second aircraft on the mission returned to Joint Base Charleston without incident.

Charleston International Airport, which shares runways with Joint Base Charleston, was notified by the military of the mishap, but no flights were impacted, spokesman Spencer

It reads like they'll be digging this thing out of a swamp.


KY........

[tonekat]

22. Found it! It would be interesting

to see its heading. It is so fortunate that it landed in an unpopulated area, can you imagine if it came down in the middle of a city?

[Warpy]

23. Something catastrophic must have happened

involving the autopilot. I hope they can put enough of it together to figure out how the transponder was cut and just what the autopilot was up to when the pilot bailed. It sounds like he had no hope of turning it out to sea.

[Deminpenn]

24. ANG B-25 Mitchell that crashed in the Mon

River in Pittsburgh has never been found despite eyewitnesses seeing it go down and 4 of the 6 crew members surviving.

https://blueskypit.com/2021/02/01/65-years-later-ghost-bomber-remains-unsolved-mystery/

[C Moon]

25. They should look in trump's bathroom.