F-35 Down (or missing?) in South Carolina?

a reply to: Zaphod58

Are there any threating munitions on board besides fuel?

Isn't there still a Nuke missing in that area also ?

Seems like we got us a Southern triangle going on .

Got to be hard missing a crashed fighter jet on our own soil - That right there is difficult to swallow , He must of sent it into the ocean anyone know the last heading before he ejected ?

Also since when does a plane tell you to eject as it's flying along with no problems ... Just find it strange I wonder if hackers have advanced to the point of ejecting pilots ?

a reply to: TheGoondockSaint

They move trucks in, secure the area, etc.

It’s way more likely that the components of this vehicle are compromised and it’s now sitting in a hangar in Beijing than whatever story they’re telling us.

a reply to: Brotherman

Late in the training course they’ll get one or two flights to drop live weapons, and one air to air shoot. The rest of the time it’s training weapons that have just enough charge to leave a puff of smoke.

a reply to: Ravenwatcher

You’re talking about a remote area, lots of mountains, not many people. You’re now looking for very small pieces of an aircraft that started out in the neighborhood of 60 feet long.

a reply to: PurpleFox

Of course it is, because an F-35 doesn’t just disappear after the pilot ejects.

Aircraft has been found in Florence County.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
Aircraft has been found in Florence County.

According to @collinrugg on X (sorry I don't know how to link from mobile)

BREAKING: U.S. officials have ordered a 2-day stand down for all military aviation inside as well as outside the United States after an F-35 jet went missing in South Carolina.

This keeps getting more bizarre.

According to ABC News, "no units are allowed to fly" unless there is a discussion for two days about "safety measures and procedures."

It flew all the way to China.

a reply to: TheGoondockSaint

Stand downs happen after accidents. There have been several in the last year alone. You left out that is for Marine F-35 units not the entire military.

Also, WHO TF GAVE THE MARINE CORPS AN F35 ?!?!?

a reply to: Crackalackin

With its 900 mile range and no pilot.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: TheGoondockSaint

Stand downs happen after accidents. There have been several in the last year alone. You left out that is for Marine F-35 units not the entire military.

I've nothing against the Marine Corp , They are an Excellent Fighting force Highly motivated and disciplined and of course absolutely in love with themselves .

Personally I think The Marine Corp should step away from Jets.

Debris field found in search for F-35 jet in Williamsburg County

WILLIAMSBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - Joint Base Charleston confirmed Monday night that found a debris field now believed to be the site of an F-35 crash two hours northeast of the base.

The base did not provide a specific area within Williamsburg County where the debris field was spotted, but asked members of the community to avoid the area as the recovery team secured the debris field.

Joint Base Charleston said it was transferring incident command to the U.S. Marine Corps as they begin the recovery process.

Florence County Sheriff T.J. Joye could not provide information on exactly where the parts were found, but Bartells Road in Indiantown, which is near Hemingway, is blocked off, WMBF reported.

Surprised it took so long to find it.

Sounds like they pissed off local politicians from the article.

a reply to: asabuvsobelow

Well they proved the stealth works. They said it's transponder went down and made it difficult to track.

Guessing as to why the pilot bailed is he lost flight control. Maybe could not get it out of autopilot makes me wonder if they were testing a software upgrade. Or they had a computer crash without the flight computer the f35 is just a giant brick the computer makes thousands of adjustments a minute to keep it airborne.

a reply to: pianopraze

I’m not. You’re talking about an aircraft that is about 50 feet long, that probably flew until it ran out of fuel so there was no post impact fire. That’s not an easy find with only a “last seen heading north” lead.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: pianopraze

I’m not. You’re talking about an aircraft that is about 50 feet long, that probably flew until it ran out of fuel so there was no post impact fire. That’s not an easy find with only a “last seen heading north” lead.

Ejecting yourself from a fighter because it's flying a little rough, is unusual. Something is awry.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: pianopraze

I’m not. You’re talking about an aircraft that is about 50 feet long, that probably flew until it ran out of fuel so there was no post impact fire. That’s not an easy find with only a “last seen heading north” lead.

Rhetorical question I'm sure.

But why wasn't there a Transponder on the Aircraft to locate it in the event of a crash ?

a reply to: carewemust

Except that we don’t know WHY he ejected. And if you know anything about accidents, there have been many where the pilot ejected, because something very bad was going on, and the plane proceeded to fly on by itself until crashing. If he pulled the handle, it was because of more than it “flying a little rough”.