A Marine Corps F-35B Lightning might be in one of two lakes in South Carolina. If you’re fishing around there and you’ve hooked the 5th Gen fighter, the Marines would really like to know about it.
The F-35B from VMFAT-501, an F-35 operational training squadron based at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, was on a local flight north of Charleston, South Carolina yesterday afternoon when its pilot ejected for reasons the Marines have yet to share.
According to a Facebook post from Joint Base Charleston, the pilot ejected safely, was recovered and transferred to a local medical center in stable condition. The post asked members of public to call the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing Public Affairs Office if they had any information.
As of 5:30 pm Eastern time, the 2nd MAW had no information to add. The search and recovery effort the Marines point out is being run by Joint Base Charleston. The search for the missing Lightning will likely continue through the day tomorrow if it has not in fact already been located.
Aerial searches would probably depend on daylight as the aircraft should have cooled enough by now to make thermal detection difficult. But that may have been the case from the start.
While emergency teams started looking for the fighter jet on Sunday with assistance from the Navy, the FAA and Civil Air Patrol, along with multiple local and state police agencies, they might not have been able to see what could be in the water somewhere.
Two lakes, Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion, are located adjacent to each other roughly between Charleston and Columbia, S.C.
“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.
Lake Moultrie is the third largest lake in South Carolina (60,400 acres) with an average depth of 18.7 feet and a maximum depth of 75.46 feet. Lake Marion is the largest in central South Carolina (110,600 acres), with an average depth of 13.12 feet and a maximum depth of approximately 76.77 feet. That’s more than enough water to hide an F-35.
The authorities have not indicated whether controllers were in radar contact with the F-35 or whether it was actively broadcasting transponder data. (Military aircraft are exempt from doing so in certain conditions to limit the spread of open-source information about their movements via online flight-tracking websites.)
Marine Corps spokesman, Captain Joe Leitner (USMC) had nothing to share with me beyond the official 2nd MAW statement that, “The search-and-recovery efforts for the aircraft are ongoing, and we are thankful to the agencies assisting in this effort. The mishap is currently under investigation. The Department of the Navy has a well-defined process for investigating aircraft mishaps…”
While not confirmed, it’s probable that joint search teams are on the water at both Lakes and in the nearby countryside looking for the airplane.
As the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources notes, the Lakes “provide many anglers with the opportunity to catch the largest freshwater fish they will ever encounter. Largemouth bass and shellcracker fisheries also draw anglers each spring, providing unique opportunities to catch large fish.”
Unfortunately, the U.S. Marines may have inadvertently provided anglers with a lifetime’s worth of bragging rights in hooking a copy of the West’s most advanced operational fighter jet. If you’re out there, let us know if you’ve got anything on the end of your line.
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