US F-35 Fighter Jet Goes Missing After Mid-Flight Emergency

The leading Joint Base Charleston has asked local residents for help. (Representational Image)

A US Marine Corps fighter jet has gone missing in South Carolina after its pilot safely ejected the aircraft on Sunday. The US military officials have appealed to the public to help locate the missing multimillion-dollar plane, the Guardian reported. 

Military officials said that a Marine Corps pilot safely ejected the F-35 Lightning II jet over North Charleston on Sunday afternoon after a “mishap”. Base authorities said they were searching, in coordination with federal aviation regulators, around two lakes north of the city of Charleston.

The leading Joint Base Charleston has asked local residents for help.

“If you have any information that may help our recovery teams locate the F-35, please call the Base Defense Operations Center,” a post from the base read on X, formerly known as Twitter.

See the post here:

We’re working with @MCASBeaufortSC to locate an F-35 that was involved in a mishap this afternoon. The pilot ejected safely. If you have any information that may help our recovery teams locate the F-35, please call the Base Defense Operations Center at 843-963-3600.

— Joint Base Charleston (@TeamCharleston) September 17, 2023

Reacting to the news, Local congresswoman Nancy Mace wrote on X, “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?”

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

The planes, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, cost around $80 million each, according to an AFP report.