US military officials have appealed to the locals for help to locate a fighter jet after losing track of it somewhere over South Carolina when the pilot ejected.
A Marine Corps pilot cautiously escaped the F-35B Lightning II jet over North Charleston on Sunday afternoon after a “mishap”, military officials said, and the search for his missing aircraft was now focused on two lakes north of North Charleston.
The pilot parachuted carefully into North Charleston at about 2 p.m. and was carried to a local hospital, where he was in a stable state, said Maj Melanie Salinas. The pilot’s name has not been disclosed.
Based on the missing plane’s place and trajectory, the search for the F-35 Lightning II jet was focused on Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion, said Senior Master Sergeant Heather Stanton at Joint Base Charleston. Both lakes are north of North Charleston.
The leading Joint Base Charleston has asked local residents for help.
Nancy Mace, a Local congresswoman said: “How in the hell do you lose an F-35?”
A South Carolina Law Enforcement Division helicopter joined the search for the F-35 after some poor weather removed in the area, Stanton said.
Officials are still probing why the pilot ejected, authorities said.
Salinas said that the pilot of a second F-35 returned safely to Joint Base Charleston.
The planes and pilots were with the Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 based in Beaufort, not distant from South Carolina’s Atlantic coast.
