U.S. Asks for Help Finding Missing F-35 After Pilot Ejected and the Jet Fighter Kept Flying on Autopilot
September 18th, 2023Update: Missing F-35 Found Crashed in Field 80 Miles from Base Following 28-Hour Search
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Via: CNBC:
A U.S. fighter jet’s stealth abilities appear to be working too well, with authorities forced to ask the public for help finding an F-35 that went missing somewhere over South Carolina when the pilot ejected due to a “mishap.”
Joint Base Charleston, an air base in North Charleston, said it was working with Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort to “locate an F-35 that was involved in a mishap” on Sunday afternoon.
The pilot was able to safely eject from the aircraft, an F-35B Lightning II jet, and was taken to a local medical center in stable condition, the air base said in a Facebook post at around 5:35 p.m. ET.
The jet was left in autopilot mode when the pilot ejected from the aircraft, so there’s a possibility it could still be airborne, Jeremy Huggins, a spokesman at Joint Base Charleston, told NBC News over the phone.
