Pilot ejected Sunday over North Charleston as MCAS Beaufort-based fighter had ‘mishap’
By Mike McCombs
The Island News
A Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort F-35B Lightning II fighter plane that went missing Sunday after its pilot ejected over North Charleston has been found.
According to a release from Joint Base Charleston, personnel from Joint Base Charleston and MCAS Beaufort, in close coordination with local authorities, located a debris field in Williamsburg County.
The debris field is two hours northeast of Joint Base Charleston.
Teams from Joint Base Charleston, MCAS Beaufort, the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing out of MCAS Cherry Point, Navy Region Southeast, the FAA, the Civil Air Patrol, as well as local, county, and state law enforcement across South Carolina had been working to locate the U.S. Marine Corps plane.
Authorities asked members of the community to avoid the area as the recovery team secures the debris field. The Marine Corps is beginning the recovery process.
In what Joint Base Charleston called a “mishap,” a pair of F-35s were flying over North Charleston when one pilot was forced to eject. The pilot landed safely in North Charleston and was transported to a local medical facility where he is stable.
The other F-35 and its pilot landed safely at Joint Base Charleston. Lt. Lyndsay Cribb, a spokesperson for MCAS Beaufort, confirmed the incident Sunday night, and said officials were, “still gathering information.”
The release from Joint Base Charleston said the mishap was “currently under investigation, and we are unable to provide additional details to preserve the integrity of the investigative process.”
Since the “mishap” on Sunday emergency response teams had been trying to locate the ditched F-35.
“We don’t know anything about the plane,” a Joint Base Charleston spokesperson told The Island News Sunday night by phone. “We are tracking it.”
Joint Base Charleston’s account on X, formerly known as Twitter, posted “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.”
By late Monday afternoon, some sources reported the search had intensified closer to Lake City.
The Washington Post reported Monday the jet’s transponder was not working “for some reason that we haven’t yet determined,” according to Jeremy Huggins, a spokesman at Joint Base Charleston.
During the search, Joint Base Charleston asked that anyone with information that might help their recovery teams call the Base Defense Operations Center at 843-963-3600.
“How in the hell do you lose an F-35?” Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) posted on X.
The F-35s are with the Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron (VMFAT) 501 of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing and based at MCAS Beaufort.
The F-35 is manufactured by Lockheed-Martin and cost roughly $80 million apiece.
This is the second incident involving MCAS Beaufort-based planes in the past month
Maj. Andrew Mettler was killed late Thursday, Aug. 24, when his F/A-18D Hornet crashed during a training flight in the vicinity of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in California. That crash is still under investigation.
Mettler was assigned to Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA(AW)) 224, Marine Aircraft Group (MAG) 31, 2nd MAW stationed on Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. The squadron was participating in Service Level Training Exercise 5-23.
This story was updated at 6:40 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 17 for accuracy. This story was updated at 7:15 a.m., Monday, Sept. 18 for new details This story was updated at 6:45 p.m., Monday after the plane was located. This story will continue to be updated.
Mike McCombs is the Editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.
