South Carolina witnesses the discovery of missing F-35 fighter plane debris

A day after asking the public for help in identifying wreckage from the elusive aircraft, the US military has reported the recovery of debris from a missing F-35 fighter plane. The event happened after the pilot evacuated from the plane for an unknown reason.

The F-35B Lightning II jet’s debris field, which disappeared on Sunday, was discovered on Monday in South Carolina’s rural Williamsburg County. Authorities had focused their search efforts in the area of Charleston’s Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion. The jet’s last known position was there. The discovered debris has been positively recognized as the missing plane’s wreckage.

The cost of each of these Lockheed Martin-produced F-35 fighters is high, coming in at around $80 million.

The F-35 fighter plane vanished over South Carolina after the pilot abseiled for reasons that are yet unclear, prompting the base to post a request for information on social media. Fortunately, the F-35 continued to fly as the pilot safely parachuted into a North Charleston neighborhood, with some describing it as being in a “zombie state.”

Authorities are now looking into what happened before the pilot ejected. The Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 provided both the pilots and the aircraft. This squadron is based at Beaufort, which is near to South Carolina’s Atlantic coast.

Joint Base Charleston disclosed its cooperation with Marine Corps and Navy authorities in a statement. In South Carolina, they collaborated closely with regional law enforcement organizations, the Civil Air Patrol, and the FAA. The base verified that “both ground and air assets” are being used in the continuing search and recovery operations.