Debris field from lost F-35 fighter jet is found in South Carolina

North Charleston, South Carolina — On Monday, authorities discovered a debris field from a Marine Corps F-35 stealth fighter jet that crashed in South Carolina after the pilot ejected and parachuted to safety.

According to the Marine Corps’ Joint Base Charleston, the debris field was in rural Williamsburg County. Residents were asked to avoid the area while the recovery team worked to secure the field, which is about two hours northeast of the base.

The pilot, whose name has not been released, parachuted to safety into a North Charleston neighborhood around 2 p.m. Sunday. He was taken to a hospital and was in stable condition, according to Marines Maj. Melanie Salinas.

The Marine Corps announced Monday that it would suspend operations for two days following the crash of a fighter jet, the third costly accident in recent weeks.

The Marine Corps’ acting commandant, Gen. Eric Smith, ordered the stand-down while authorities searched near two South Carolina lakes for the missing FB-35B Lightning II plane.

According to a Marine Corps announcement, this is the third “Class-A mishap” in the last six weeks. Such incidents occur when the cost of damages exceeds $2.5 million, a Department of Defense aircraft is destroyed, or someone is killed or permanently disabled.

According to the Monday release, commanders will spend the stand-down reinforcing safe flying policies, practices, and procedures with their Marines.

The announcement provided no information about the two previous incidents. In August, however, three US Marines were killed when a V-22B Osprey tiltrotor plane crashed during a training exercise in Australia, and a Marine Corps pilot was killed when his combat jet crashed near a San Diego base during a training flight.

Cpl. Christian Cortez of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing said Monday that the search for the fighter jet in South Carolina was still ongoing. He stated that the incident was being investigated.

According to Senior Master Sgt. Heather Stanton of Joint Base Charleston, the search was focused on Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion based on the location and trajectory of the missing plane. Both lakes are located to the north of North Charleston.

Stanton said a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division helicopter joined the search after some bad weather cleared the area. Military officials asked the public for assistance in locating the aircraft in online posts on Sunday.

According to Salinas, the pilot of a second F-35 returned safely to Joint Base Charleston.

The planes and pilots were assigned to the Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing in Beaufort, South Carolina.