An F-35 jet that vanished after a U.S. Marine pilot ejected from it on Sunday in North Charleston, South Carolina, using an emergency parachute was reportedly still being sought for by military and government authorities on Monday.
The F-35 from Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort was being flown by the pilot, who has not been publicly recognized.
He was transferred to a nearby hospital, and as of late Sunday, Jeremy Huggins, a spokesman for Joint Base Charleston, reported that his status was stable.
The reason the pilot had to eject was a mystery.
Numerous government and military representatives, including those from the Second Marine Aircraft Wing of the Marines, the Navy’s Southeast regional command, the Civil Air Patrol, and the Federal Aviation Administration, participated in the search.
The search was being assisted by law enforcement teams from all throughout the state.
Joint Base Charleston announced late on Sunday that it was working with the Federal Aviation Administration to focus on an area near Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion based on the last-known location of the jet, an F-35B Lightning II, and that it was asking for the public’s assistance.
Anyone with knowledge on the whereabouts of the missing jet was urged to contact the police.
The Marine Corps uses the short-takeoff and vertical-landing F-35B Lightning II variant.
In 2018, the Marine Corps used it to carry out its first combat attacks in Afghanistan.
It was made by Lockheed Martin.
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