Officials have now turn up debris from theF-35 Lightning II fighter jet that went missingin South Carolina . The multi - million clam jet — the DoD ’s most expensive weapon system of rules — disappeared on Sunday near Charleston after the cowcatcher ejected himself from the carpenter’s plane and safely parachuted to the undercoat following a “ mishap ” aboard the aircraft .
Joint Base Charleston ask the public for assistant as it conducted an all-encompassing search for the spurt alongside the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort and herald force had finally located the debris two hours northeast of Joint Base Charleston on Monday evening . The joint base requested members of the community avoid the junk area as retrieval efforts are stockpile out in aposton X , formerly know as Twitter . It added : “ We are shift incident bid to the USMC this evening , as they begin the recovery summons . ”
In a separateposton Facebook , Joint Base Charleston wrote : “ The mischance is currently under probe , and we are ineffectual to provide extra details to preserve the integrity of the investigatory process . ”
Photo: AP News (AP)
The pilot of the F-35 was transported to a local infirmary on Sunday and is in static condition , the joint basis describe , saying in a Facebookpostthat the bad luck involved “ an F-35B Lightning II green from Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron ( VMFAT ) 501 with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing . ”
The incident raised safety concerns with the U.S. Marine Corps which issued astatementon Monday directing a two - day pause in air travel operations to talk about air guard . Acting Commandant of the Marine Corps , Eric M. Smith said in the affirmation that three Class - A air mishaps in six week prompted the want for a safe discussion .
“ During the stall down , aviation commander will lead word with their Marines focusing on the bedrock of good flight operations , ground safe , maintenance , and trajectory procedures , and maintaining fight readiness , ” the statement say . “ This stand - down is being taken to ensure the servicing is maintaining operational calibration of combat - quick aircraft with well - get up pilots and crews , ” it impart .
The F-35 mishap this week comes less than a twelvemonth after an Air Force F-35A go down in Utah in October , from turbulence in the backwash of another F-35A. The Wake Island affected the aircraft ’s flying command computer system and the archetype was n’t able to recapture control as it was preparing to land because of the downhearted altitude and airspeed .
Prior to October ’s crash , another F-35 engage by Japan crashed in 2019 . That crash was set to be the result of human error when the pilot became disorientate , and in 2018 , a faulty fuel electron tube in an F-35 fighter jet caused it to crash , prompt an review of the entire F-35 fleet .
An F-35 fighter aircraft cat valium , like the one that went down over the weekend , costs about $ 80 million , according to a report byAir & Space Forces Magazineearlier this twelvemonth . However , a 2020 Project On Government Oversightreportstated that each Marine Corps F-35B be roughly $ 135.8 million , and a2023 reportby the U.S. Government Accountability Office read the F-35 Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter programme is the Department of Defence ’s most expensive weapon organization . The paper estimated that American taxpayers would pay up roughly $ 1.7 trillion to “ buy , operate , and nourish the aircraft and systems over its lifetime . ”
Joint Base Charleston did not immediately respond to Gizmodo ’s request for comment .
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