At the beginning of the week, an unusual crash of an F-35B fighter jet occurred in the United States. The pilot was forced to eject, but the plane continued to fly on autopilot. The fighter jet was found in South Carolina, in Williamsburg County.
Marines found the wreckage of an F-35B fighter jet. However, there are many questions surrounding the crash, including how the fighter flew 100-110 kilometers at low altitude. On September 18, Charleston Air Force Base issued a release claiming that search teams had found the F-35.
The media reported that minor debris from the fighter jet was found at the crash site. According to one of the military, the pilot ejected from the F-35 at an altitude of approximately 304 meters. According to USNI News, the plane could have been coming in for a landing at the airfield, which could explain the low altitude. Therefore, the plane had to have enough fuel to fly 100 kilometers.
The airplane’s speed was less than 200 knots (less than 370 km/h). The F-35B can fly slowly, down to zero speeds, if landing vertically. At the moment, it looks like the low and slow fighter jet was on the airfield’s trajectory, and then something happened. Given that the ejection took place 1 km from the airport and over a densely populated area, it is likely that the exit from the plane was urgent.
Sources claim that the ejection was controlled, meaning that the pilot had minimal control over the plane. And the fact that the F-35B itself has traveled 100 kilometers confirms the assumption. But there are some strange coincidences.
Assuming that the fighter jet was flying at a speed of about 150 knots (270 km/h), it apparently flew without a pilot for about 20 minutes to cover the distance to the crash site. Assuming that it was flying at 200 knots (370 km/h), the Marine fighter flew for about 15 minutes. So the question arises, why did the pilot decide to eject?
The Marine Corps does not give any answers and does not respond to journalists’ questions.
As a reminder, the US military was forced to ask for help from the public to find the missing F-35 fighter jet after an accident that forced the pilot to eject. Two days later, on September 19, the wreckage was found
