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Joint Base Charleston in South Carolina announced on Sunday evening that a F-35 jet was missing in a crash, and they can’t find it.
Apparently, the F-35 belongs to Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, but Joint Base Charleston is helping them try and locate the downed jet. Thankfully, the pilot ejected safely. But the jet crashed somewhere, and no one apparently had eyes on it when it went down.
Joint Base Charleston said on Facebook that the aircraft was a Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II belonging to Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. The pilot ejected safely and was transported to a local medical center.
The base is working with Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort to help locate the missing aircraft. Emergency response teams have been deployed to find the jet.
“Based on the jet’s last-known position and in coordination with the FAA, we are focusing our attention north of JB Charleston, around Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion,” Joint Base Charleston said in a statement on Facebook.
There was no reason given yet for the ejection and crash, except to say that there was a “mishap.” And until the wreckage can be found and analyzed, they may not be able to determine more than that. But that leads us to the heart of the problem. The military cannot find the crash site of the F-35. So they decided to appeal to the public on social media to help them find their downed jet.
When the United States military is forced to turn to crowdsourcing in order to find a crash site… Houston, we have a problem.
Based on the jet’s last-known position and in coordination with the FAA, we are focusing our attention north of JB Charleston, around Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion.
— Joint Base Charleston (@TeamCharleston) September 17, 2023
Now, the targeted search area of Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie is quite large, and not heavily populated.
https://twitter.com/MahiArchipelago/status/1703548937259393392
Still, no one heard a very loud sound as a jet hit the ground or the water? No one saw anything? According to the F-35’s specs, this is a 51.4 foot long, 14.4 foot tall jet with a wingspan of 35 feet and a weight of 29,300 pounds. And no one heard or saw anything and called 911? That’s the strangest part of all.
Now, the mockery on Twitter/X has been hilarious, and we can afford to have a laugh because the pilot got out safely, and apparently no one on the ground was injured (at least, that seems to be a safe assumption if no one has called in any casualties).
https://t.co/A3X9ffeLAL pic.twitter.com/Z3EcYKd6Gs
— Magills (@magills_) September 17, 2023
Stealth feature works.
— Travis Akers (@travisakers) September 18, 2023
But mockery aside, this does highlight some real problems within the military right now. First of all, the “mishap” and ejection happened while there was still some daylight – we definitely are heading into fall, but sunset is still after 7 pm. The recovery priority was obviously the pilot, but once the pilot was found and taken for medical treatment, there was probably still light outside. Did the Air Force simply assume it would be in a certain area… and then it wasn’t?
Now, you would also assume that a sophisticated jet like the F-35 would have a GPS locator. Given that Joint Base Charleston can’t find it, it seems a safe assumption that it was damaged or destroyed in the crash. Maybe there should be a backup tracker, like an Apple AirTag. I’m joking, but was there a backup system? Representative Nancy Mace, who represents this area of South Carolina in Congress, is also asking that question (after expressing her gratitude that the pilot was alive).
Now that I got that out of the way. How in the hell do you lose an F-35?
How is there not a tracking device and we’re asking the public to what, find a jet and turn it in?
— Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) September 18, 2023
And then there is the waste issue. The F-35 is not cheap. As Fortune pointed out back in August, the F-35 program has a budget of $12 billion dollars, is apparently the largest program that the Pentagon currently has, and it has been a money pit from day one.
Almost since the F-35 program was announced in 2001, it has been the symbol of America’s dysfunctional military-industrial complex. The jet is 10 years behind schedule for final approval and almost 80% over budget, its production repeatedly stalled by defects and miscalculations. Last fall, comedian Bill Maher captured the conventional thinking about the fighter during a monologue on his HBO show. “We spent $1.5 trillion on the F-35, which has never worked, and never will, and yet we still buy it,” Maher declared, concluding, to peals of laughter, “It’s the Yugo of fighter jets.” Maher’s critique was a little off: The estimated cost of developing, building, and maintaining the F-35 fleet over its anticipated life span of about 60 years is actually $1.7 trillion.
Contrary to popular belief and Bill Maher, the F-35 does work. Lockheed has delivered about 960 of the jets so far, with about 630 going to the U.S. military—and the plane has performed effectively in combat multiple times. The F-35 has yet to face protracted battle against a sophisticated foreign military. But if or when it does, its design incorporates technological breakthroughs that could confer a huge edge in battle, enabling it to evade detection while linking U.S. and allied forces in a data-sharing network that could outmaneuver and overwhelm an enemy.
The F-35 is indeed plagued by cost overruns and delays. But those problems are inextricably linked to the advances that have gradually won over pilots and governments—advances that until recently have, almost literally, flown under the radar.
Criticism of the F-35 remains strong, and it has been stoked by the conflict in Ukraine, where a shortage of basic munitions has endangered the war effort. Such shortfalls highlight concerns that the U.S. overinvests in “gold-plated” weapons systems despite the fact that most warfare is defined by long, grinding fights that eat up equipment, says Richard Faulkner, a military historian who teaches at the Army’s Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kans.
“The biggest problem, of course, is the damn [F-35s] are almost handmade,” Faulkner says. “So if you lose one, you’re not getting another one for two to three to four years. If you get yourself stuck in attritional war—and warfare is inherently attritional—you start losing these things, you’re going to have a problem finding anything to replace them.”
And now, one of these “almost handmade” jets has gone down due to a “mishap,” costing the American taxpayer an estimated $156 million (that is the apparent cost for EACH ONE of these F-35s), and the Air Force can’t find it.
These are the details that conspiracy theories get built on, you know.
So, whoever comes across a large pile or several small piles of wreckage somewhere in a South Carolina marsh or in a lake, please call it in to 911, or to Joint Base Charleston, and pat yourself on the back for doing what the military couldn’t. Sorry, I don’t think you will be allowed to keep the very expensive mess that this F-35 made and sell it for scrap – even though the Pentagon can have “accounting errors” when it comes to Ukraine and it’s never, ever a problem. How we, the taxpayers, don’t scream about the millions and billions of dollars wasted, with few people ever held accountable for that waste, is beyond me.
Featured image: F-35A Lightning II stealth fighter jet, U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Donald R. Allen, cropped, public domain
Bucky says: It was reported that the pilot set the plane on autopilot before he ejected. That seems strange unless the ejection was sudden and unexpected. It seems that searching for a stealth fighter is like looking for the invisible man.
Cameron says: Not really. Look for the fireball and the smoke trail and go from there.
GWB says: And how big of a fireball would it make? Not NEARLY as big as the ones you see in the movies. And the smoke plumes you see in airshow crashes are obvious because everyone is watching the plane.
Liz says: The F35 has had a lot of software glitches, from what I’ve read/heard.
In the past I’ve known cases where the pilot ejected and the plane righted itself before crashing (an F16 was in a steep uncontrolled spin and righted itself a while back after the pilot aborted).
My spouse used to fly with the Beaufort pilots quite a bit.
They actually lost an F18 on a TDY when we were stationed at Osan also.
Unfortunately the pilot did not survive that one…
some parts of the plane were eventually found in the ocean.
GWB says: That “righting itself” isn’t necessarily due to software, either. There were B-19s that found their way “home” after their crews bailed out over the continent. Especially in a high speed, low altitude environment, a pilot has to make choices pretty suddenly, and he might not always be right. And then he has the anguish of seeing his aircraft continue in flight while he hangs in the silk. And, then, there are things that happen that give no opportunity to bailout or emergency land an aircraft.
Liz says: Heh, did not know that about the B-19. That is interesting.
Jack says: Did you mean B-29s? According to Wiki, there was only 1 Douglas B-19 made.
GWB says: Sorry, I meant B-17, the Flying Fortress.
They bore the brunt of the strategic bombing in Europe (for the US).
GWB says: If he was over a populated area (that’s where he landed) and the problem with the aircraft was not immediately catastrophic, he might have set the autopilot to continue out into un-populated territory.
That does bring up the wingman, though. If the issue wasn’t moderately catastrophic, why didn’t the wingman keep an eye on the stricken aircraft? I know his first priority is reporting on his wingman, but ensuring the IFF was on in the stricken aircraft and then tracking it with the wingman’s computer until the IFF went dark would narrow the search somewhat.
And, of course, all of that is arm-chair piloting. Until there’s more information, I won’t get after anyone.
Mad Celt says: If I knew I wouldn’t tell that bunch of cross dressing morons.
GWB says: Still, no one heard a very loud sound as a jet hit the ground or the water? No one saw anything?
Obviously you have no idea how unpopulated it is, nor the human tendency to look up and see nothing and shrug their shoulders and go back to what they were doing. There were no cellphones tracking the aircraft while it was flying, to give you man on the street view of the thing. And, of course, “crowdsourcing” this search is exactly what you’re describing – they’re saying “Hey, if you saw something last night and didn’t think anything of it, please give us a call.”
Heck, how many stories do we hear of people dying in their homes and not being discovered for weeks?
we can afford to have a laugh because the pilot got out safely, and apparently no one on the ground was injured
Yes. Don’t forget that part. We are much better at this than just 50-80 years ago.
approximately 850 square miles, potentially covered in tens of feet of water
Here’s the thing. Do you know just how big 850 square miles is? And unless it augured in across a long path, leaving a huge gash in the scenery, it’s awfully hard to find aircraft under water or in a forest. And no, it certainly didn’t send up a big fireball like you see in the movies.
a sophisticated jet like the F-35 would have a GPS locator
Why would we put something on a tactical aircraft that would expose its location to the enemy – either in-flight (if it malfunctioned) or after a crash? We don’t do black boxes (not with a transmitter) on military aircraft.
Even if we did, there’s no guarantee it would work.
I’m joking, but was there a backup system?
Again, ponder what you’re saying – you want a way to track a combat aircraft that is supposed to be stealth. Maybe think on that one.
And, Nancy Mace is a friggin’ idiot.
And now, one of these “almost handmade” jets has gone down due to a “mishap,”
And let’s get over the hump of “How could you possibly crash one of these?” S*** happens. It’s not like you can pull over to the curb if you get a flat or your engine overheats. Training accidents happen. Flying a combat aircraft requires constant, overwhelming attention to detail, and some envelopes of flight require even more. And the tech progressives at the top make it even harder by expecting more computers to handle things. Some of us are very aware how poorly computers handle unexpected stuff.
I will also not toss the pilot under the crew bus, but pilots sometimes make mistakes. And, no, you can’t stop that (though we work towards it by doing all this training).
the millions and billions of dollars wasted
Since you’ve been focused on the inability to find the wreckage, do you somehow think that finding it would lessen or eliminate the “waste”? It’s still going to be a mangled mess when they find it. They might get a radio or two out of it intact. The entire fuselage is a write-off, however (unless maybe it landed on the lake), as the impact destroys the integrity of carbon fiber pieces (as far as I know). You’re not salvaging a car inundated by flood waters, you’re looking at a somewhat fragile object smashed into the ground at 100+ miles an hour.
I get it. It is weird and a little shocking to think they don’t know what happened. But the reports so far say the pilot is stable, not talkative. And I don’t know what’s going on with the wingman (who should have followed the stricken jet to see where it went down), but it’s possible whatever happened to the downed jet also affected his aircraft and he had to beat feet home. Let’s find out the story before we go ranting about “Why couldn’t they find this plane?”
Liz says: Good perspective, thank you for this response.
Jerry Goldblatt says: They found the debris yesterday.
It turns out someone did hear it crash but he thought it was something like a meteor and didn’t look outside so he didn’t report it.
All this “they are incompetent” talk is just BS from people who know nothing about military aviation beyond what they know from the movies.
GWB says: Oh, and that cute little meme about the carton of milk?
Yeah, the airplane belongs to the USMC, not the Air Force, chuckles.
Jerry Goldblatt says: They found the debris yesterday.
It turns out someone did hear it crash but he thought it was something like a meteor and didn’t look outside so he didn’t report it.
All this “they are incompetent” talk is just BS from people who know nothing about military aviation beyond what they know from the movies.
Liz says: Updated article:
https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2023/09/20/what-we-know-about-the-marine-corps-f-35-crash-in-south-carolina/
It’s interesting that the Marine version of the F35 has an auto eject. I doubt that is what happened here but who knows. Also, the ejection was pretty low (1000 feet).
Never believe the first battle field reports.
GWB says: I think most of our fourth and fifth generation fighters have some variation of auto-eject. It’s pretty heavily constrained.
And if the ejection was below 1,000 feet AGL, then a lot of center radar wouldn’t pick up the aircraft’s IFF, even if it was working.
GWB says: I could be wrong about the auto-ejection.
Also interesting phrasing on one sentence – implying the aircraft was possibly on autopilot when the mishap took place. So the pilot didn’t out it on autopilot in order to bail out, but ejected while it was flying in that mode.
Well, we’ll keep watching.
Liz says: My spouse doesn’t think the USAF F35s have auto eject.
Think (from what I’ve been told) the Navy has some different variables (like a potential “weak shot” catapult launch failure) or the hover feature and all that.
Liz says: Just thinking further, maybe he put it in autopilot while he was trying to troubleshoot (figure out what was going on). Then maybe forgot to turn it off in the excitement?
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