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

[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.
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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.
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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........