The saga has ended and particles discovered. And no, the lacking F-35B didn’t crash in water.
Officers have ultimately managed to find particles from the missing F-35B in a discipline in Williamsburg County, in South Carolina. The invention occurred after the U.S. navy, that hadn’t be capable to find the crash website following the ejection of the pilot at 15,000 ft in dangerous climate, had launched a large search operation involving additionally a number of plane and in addition requested for the general public’s assist discovering the plane.
Personnel from Joint Base Charleston and @MCASBeaufortSC, in shut coordination with native authorities, have positioned a particles discipline in Williamsburg County. The particles was found two hours northeast of JB Charleston.
— Joint Base Charleston (@TeamCharleston) September 18, 2023
The pilot ejected safely at about 15,000ft from an F-35B Lighting II jet belonging to Marine Fighter Assault Coaching Squadron 501 (VMFAT-501) with the 2nd Marine Plane Wing based mostly at MCAS (Marine Corps Air Station) Beaufort, South Carolina, within the afternoon on Sept. 17, 2023.
The plane was an autopilot when the pilot ejected and had the transponder turned off, making the search fairly advanced, for causes that we’ve got defined in additional particulars here. The plane’s final recognized place had been close to Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion, two massive our bodies of water northwest of the town of Charleston, the place many of the search actions initially centered. Nevertheless, the plane had ultimately crashed in a discipline many miles to the east of the lakes.
Security stand down
Whereas the investigation will decide the rationale for the crash, the U.S. Marine Corps ordered security stand down, the service stated in a information launch.
Following three Class-A aviation mishaps during the last six weeks, Appearing Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Eric M. Smith, directed all Marine Corps aviation items to conduct a two-day stand down in operations this week to debate aviation security issues and finest practices.
In the course of the stand down, aviation commanders will lead discussions with their Marines specializing in the basics of secure flight operations, floor security, upkeep and flight procedures, and sustaining fight readiness. This stand down is being taken to make sure the service is sustaining operational standardization of combat-ready plane with well-prepared pilots and crews.
This stand down invests time and power in reinforcing the Marine aviation group’s established insurance policies, practices and procedures and ensures Marine Corps stays a prepared and highly-trained preventing drive.
The opposite two class A mishaps talked about within the public launch are the lack of an F/A-18 Hornet close to San Diego on Aug. 24, 2023, that killed a pilot, and the Aug. 26 crash of an MV-22B Osprey that crashed in Australia, killing three Marines and leaving 5 others in severe situation.
David Cenciotti is a journalist based mostly in Rome, Italy. He’s the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of many world’s most well-known and skim navy aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for main worldwide magazines, together with Air Forces Month-to-month, Fight Plane, and lots of others, overlaying aviation, protection, conflict, business, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown a number of fight planes with totally different air forces. He’s a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Drive, a non-public pilot and a graduate in Pc Engineering. He has written 5 books and contributed to many extra ones.
