US Military Searches Lake for F-35 Fighter Jet After Pilot Saves Himself with Ejection Seat, Transponder Doesn't Work

Illustration of the US F-35 fighter jet. (Wikimedia Commons/Stff. Madelyn Brown)

JAKARTA - United States military authorities launched a search operation for the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jet, focusing on two lakes north of North Charleston, after the Marine Corps pilot escaped with an ejection seat while undergoing training on Sunday afternoon.

The pilot, whose name has not been announced, was rushed to a local hospital in stable condition, after his ejection seat landed safely, said military officer Major Melanie Salinas, as quoted by the Associated Press, September 18.

Based on the location and trajectory of the missing plane, the search for the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet was focused on Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion, said Master Sergeant Heather Stanton of Joint Base Charleston.

Officials are still investigating why the pilot ejected, authorities said.

"The aircraft's transponder, which normally helps locate the aircraft, was not working for some reason that we don't yet know," said Joint Base Charleston spokesman Jeremy Huggins, as quoted by The Washington Post.

"So that's why we issued a request for public assistance," he said.

The U.S. Air Force considers any incident that results in death, injury, injury or property damage" to be an accident, requiring an investigation. The extent of damage to the plane that crashed on Sunday remains unclear.

"This plane is stealthy, so it has different coatings and a different design that makes it harder to detect than a regular plane," Huggins said, declining to detail the nature of the training the pilot was undertaking at the time of the incident and saying an investigation was underway.

The joint base said they were collaborating with the Marine Corps and the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to find the fighter jet, as reported by the Mirror.

It said the plane and pilot were from Marine Combat Assault Training Squadron 501, part of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing based in Beaufort, not far from South Carolina's Atlantic coast.