How do you lose an F-35 jet? The government can find me anytime due to satellites, Google, and GPS on my phone.
Yet the military cannot find an F-35 jet worth around $100 million. The military also wants the public to help in the search.
The search for the missing jet from the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing based at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, S.C., was continuing Monday morning, a Marine spokesman said. MCAS Beaufort Marines and personnel from Joint Base Charleston were conducting the search, which was focused on two lakes in the city of North Charleston, the Corps said.The pilot safely ejected about 2 p.m. local time from the jet after experiencing “a mishap” in the air, according to a Joint Base Charleston statement. Military officials declined Monday to provide further information about the cause of the incident and they said it was under investigation.The pilot, assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501, was transferred to a hospital where he was in stable condition after he ejected over a neighborhood in North Charleston, according to the Joint Base Charleston statement. Charleston is about 70 miles northeast of MCAS Beaufort.
Officials said the jet “was supposedly put on autopilot mode.”
The military doesn’t even know if the jet crashed. The jets are built to be undetectable. Plus, the transponder is not working:
F-35s are among the world’s most advanced fighter jets, known for their sharp, aerodynamic body and features that shield them from detection.“The aircraft is stealth, so it has different coatings and different designs that make it more difficult than a normal aircraft to detect,” Huggins said. He added in a text message late Sunday that teams were still searching for the plane. He declined to specify the nature of the exercise that the pilot was involved in at the time of the incident. The matter is under investigation, he said.
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