There’s a runaway fighter jet somewhere near South Carolina.
Personnel from Joint Base Charleston and Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in South Carolina are responding on Sunday to a mishap involving a missing F-35B Lightning II jet from Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron (VMFAT) 501 with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing.
The pilot ejected safely into a North Charleston neighborhood and was transferred to a local medical center in stable condition. Emergency response teams are still trying to locate the F-35, which apparently kept flying without the pilot.
The public is asked to cooperate with military and civilian authorities as the effort continues. The focus is currently on two lakes north of North Charleston, Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion.
On the base’s Facebook page on Sunday, the military asked that those with information about the whereabouts of the wandering jet call the JB Charleston Base Defense Operations Center.
The F-35B Lightning II jet, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, is said to cost about $80 million to produce and is used by the U.S. Marine Corps. It is the Marine Corps variant of the Joint Strike Fighter and has vertical lift fan and pivoting engine nozzle to deliver vertical landing and short takeoff capability to expeditionary airfields, according to Military Times. The F-35 replaces the AV-8B Harrier IIs.
