As the United States Military continues its investigation into the crash of an F-35 stealth fighter jet in South Carolina on Sunday, additional details have emerged regarding the events that led up to the aircraft’s disappearance. In a newly-released 911 recording, the pilot, who ejected prior to the crash, reported that he had been forced to abandon his plane over a weather-induced malfunction and was “not sure” where it had ended up.
As Valuetainment reported earlier this week, the public was first made aware of the missing F-35 by a social media post from Joint Base Charleston, a military installation in North Charleston, South Carolina, that houses US Navy and US Air Force operations. In a statement posted to X on Sunday, the base announced that it was “working with [Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort] to locate an F-35 that was involved in a mishap this afternoon.” JB Charleston further confirmed that the pilot ejected safely and provided a tipline for assisting in the search.
On Monday, all military aviation units received a two-day standdown notice while the search continued. Later that same day, 28 hours after the plane first disappeared, a debris field was found in a field in Williamsburg County, concluding the recovery effort. Soon after, a rather memorable eyewitness interview with local resident Randolph White went viral.
Learn the benefits of becoming a Valuetainment Member and subscribe today!
Since the discovery of the crash site, speculation has run rampant about the circumstances that caused the roughly $90 million aircraft to malfunction. On Thursday, the Associated Press published a recording of a 911 call made by the pilot—identified as a 47-year-old with decades of flying experience—and the astonished suburbanite who discovered the pilot in their yard. However, the recorded conversation with an emergency operator seems to be raising as many questions as it answers.
The first call began with the resident calmly reporting “We got a pilot in the house, and I guess he landed in my backyard, and we’re trying to see if we could get an ambulance to the house, please.”
The pilot, who parachuted from 2,000 feet after ejecting, said he was “OK” but was experiencing back pain. “Ma’am, a military jet crashed. I’m the pilot. We need to get rescue rolling,” the pilot told the operator, growing frustrated when she had difficulty believing what she was hearing. “I’m not sure where the airplane is. It would have crash landed somewhere. I ejected.” He reiterated his request for an ambulance later in the call.
The pilot reported a malfunction shortly after takeoff at the base, saying that he lost sight of the plane after ejecting due to bad weather. The nature of the malfunction that led to the crash has not been disclosed pending further investigation.
While it remains unclear exactly what caused the critical failure, the Marines celebrated the fact that both the pilot and local residents were unharmed. “The good news is [the autopilot] appeared to work as advertised. The other bit of silver lining in this case is that through the F-35 flying away it avoided crashing into a densely populated area surrounding the airport, and fortunately crashed into an empty field and forested area,” a statement said.
Add comment