Missing jet could fly for 'hundreds of miles’ after pilot forced to eject
A missing US Marines fighter jet could fly for hundreds more miles on autopilot after its pilot was forced to eject midflight.
US military has appealed for help from the public to help locate the F-35B fighter jet, which, depending on how much fuel it had left in the tank, could likely travel hundreds of miles without its pilot, according to strategic analyst with the Hague Centre for Security Studies, Frederik Mertens, who spoke to Newsweek.
"Historically, an aircraft without a pilot can fly a long way on autopilot," Mertens told the publication.
The pilot of the F-35B Lightning II stealth fighter jet was ejected from the aircraft after getting involved “in a mishap” on Sunday, military officials in Charleston, South Carolina said on Sunday. A “mishap” for the US Air Force is any accident in the Force that “results in death, injury, illness or property damage."
The F-35B Lighting II got involved in a 'mishap', forcing the pilot to eject (AFP via Getty Images)Thankfully, after the pilot was ejected he was taken to a nearby medical centre in a stable condition.
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Search efforts are currently focused around Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion, between Charleston and Columbia, based on the last known position of the aircraft, according to officials from Joint Base Charleston.
"Emergency response teams are still trying to locate the F-35," officials said in a statement on Sunday.
The US military has asked for help from the public, asking them to continue cooperating with military and civilian authorities and to contact the Base Defense Operations Center with any information that may lead to the discovery of the missing jet.
The F-35 fifth-generation fighter jets are some of the world’s most advanced stealth aircraft, used by the US Marine Corps, the British Royal Air Force, and the Italian Air Force. Each aircraft costs around $80 million.
Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the aircraft, told Newsweek they were "aware of the mishap involving an F-35B from Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort and are thankful the pilot ejected safely." They are supporting the government in their investigation.
Unfortunately, the aircraft design makes it harder to spot.
"The aircraft is stealth, so it has different coatings and different designs that make it more difficult than a normal aircraft to detect," Jeremy Huggins, a spokesperson at Joint Base Charleston, told The Washington Post on Sunday night.
Aircraft can usually be located by tracking its transponder. However, unfortunately, the missing jet’s transponder is not communicating properly "for some reason that we haven't yet determined," Huggins said.
The jet's transponder, which would help officials find the aircraft, was not working "for some reason that we haven't yet determined," Huggins said.
Pilot-less planes have been known to fly our skies before. In 1989, a Soviet MiG-23 crashed in Belgium after flying hundreds of miles from where the pilot had ejected over Poland. More recently, an F-35B crashed in South Carolina in 2018, after which the U.S. military temporarily grounded its fleet.
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