image source, PA Media
Officials said they are focusing the search for the plane around two lakes north of Charleston.
- Author, Megan Fisher
- Role, BBC
The US Army asked citizens for help in locating one of its F-35 fighter planes, worth $100 million, after the pilot ejected and the plane went missing.
The plane disappeared on Sunday afternoon while the pilot was flying over the southern state of South Carolina.
The pilot, whose name was not revealed by the army, jumped with a parachute safely, and is currently in stable condition in the hospital.
It is not yet clear what happened, but officials said the plane was involved in an “accident.”
The plane was left on autopilot when the pilot ejected, according to a spokesman for Joint Base Charleston, according to NBC News.
Officials said they are focusing the search for the plane around two lakes north of Charleston.
Based on the last known location of the aircraft, searches are underway in Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion in cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration.
Nancy Mace, a Republican congresswoman from South Carolina, asked on the X platform (formerly Twitter): “How could you lose a plane like that?”
She added: “How can there be no tracking device, and we ask the public to find a plane and hand it over?”
The aircraft is stealth, meaning that the airframe, sensors and systems are designed to operate undetected by enemy radar.
image source, Reuters
The Marine Corps said in a statement to the BBC that its knowledge of the incident is “limited” at this time.
Joint Base Charleston posted a request for assistance on the X platform, and said: “Emergency response teams are still seeking to locate the F-35.”
She added: “We ask for citizens’ cooperation with the military and civil authorities as search efforts continue.”
Authorities urged anyone with information that could help rescue teams to contact a special operations center.
The Marine Corps said in a statement to the BBC that its knowledge of the incident is “limited” at the present time, and that it is still seeking to collect more information.
He added that the incident “will be subject to investigation.”
A second F-35, believed to have been flying at the same time, returned safely to the base in Charleston, military spokeswoman Melanie Salinas told the Associated Press.
In 2018, the US Army temporarily suspended the activity of its F-35 fighter aircraft after a plane crash in South Carolina.
