'How In The Hell Do You Lose An F-35?' As The Jet Flew On Its Own Without A Pilot

Mishaps can happen, but most of the time, especially when it involves world-class entities and governments, things tend to be under control.

But in one rare instance, the U.S. military blunder created an extremely rare incident: a fighter jet went missing, and flew on its own without a pilot.

And because the jet in question is one of the most powerful and capable jet in the U.S. arsenal, which is no other than the F-35B stealth fighter, the U.S. had to resort to the public for help.

U.S. military officials appealed to the public for help finding a fighter jet after losing track of it over South Carolina when the pilot ejected.

This happened one clear day on September 17, 2023, when an F-35B Lightning II stealth jump jet went missing after its pilot ejected during a training "mishap."

The pilot parachuted safely, survived and was hospitalized in stable condition.

Joint Base Charleston reported in a Facebook post, saying that the mishap involved "an F-35B Lightning II jet from Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron (VMFAT) 501 with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing."

The thing is, the F-35B continued flying on autopilot even after the pilot ejected.

Because the F-35B is a very expensive and advanced aircraft, the jet is considered a classified aircraft, meaning that the Marine Corps cannot release much information about the incident until they have completed their investigation.

But what they can say is that, even themselves cannot track the jet.

"Emergency response teams are still trying to locate the F-35," Joint Base Charleston said in the Facebook post.

"The public is asked to cooperate with military and civilian authorities as the effort continues," the post added.

Local Republican congresswoman, Nancy Mace, said: "How in the hell do you lose an F-35? How is there not a tracking device and we’re asking the public to what, find a jet and turn it in?"

This makes sense, because according to a 2020 Project On Government Oversight report, each Marine Corps F-35B cost $135.8 million to make.

The jet is also described as the “most advanced fighter jet in the world” and is the “most lethal, stealthy, and survivable aircraft," according to its manufacturer, aerospace giant Lockheed Martin, on its website.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office further said in a 2023 report that the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter program is the most expensive weapon-system program in the U.S. Department of Defense’s arsenal, estimating that American taxpayers would pay roughly $1.7 trillion to “buy, operate, and sustain the aircraft and systems over its lifetime."

So losing one is certainly a nightmare.

Responding to the reason why it needed the public help to find the jet, Joint Base Charleston said that the "aircraft is stealth, so it has different coatings and different designs that make it more difficult than a normal aircraft to detect."

"So that’s why we put out the public request for help."

As a stealth jet, the F-35B's frame, sensors and systems are all designed to operate undetected by enemy radar.

In other words, due to how its made and the nature of the stealth aircraft, the plane is essentially undetectable not only by their enemies, but also by their owners and creators.

Complicating the matter, the plane lost its canopy, which happened on the pilot's ejecting from the cockpit. The missing canopy and the propellant from the rockets used to propel the pilot out of the cockpit could have damaged the plane's electronics, its controls and its aerodynamics, which make the plane even more unpredictable.

Making things worse, the plane does have a transponder, but it wasn't working.

Joint Base Charleston said to be working with the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort to locate the F-35, focusing on the Northern area of the base surrounding Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion, based on the plane’s location and trajectory.

Both lakes are north of North Charleston.

At first, they could only calculate to determine where the plane should fall.

Most likely, the F-35B should have run out of fuel after a few hours of flying on autopilot.

F-35Bs have an internal fuel capacity of 8,900 kilograms, which is less than the F-35A and F-35C variants. Among other reasons, this is necessary to accommodate the F-35B's short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) capabilities.

The F-35B has a Lift Fan located just behind the cockpit and an engine that can swivel 90 degrees when in STOVL mode. Because of the Lift Fan, the F-35B has a smaller internal weapon bay and less internal fuel capacity. To compensate, it can be equipped with external fuel tank, and is equipped with a probe and drogue method for aerial refueling.

Through calculations, officials could only predict the F-35B's whereabouts by analyzing a number of factors: jet fuel left when the pilot ejected, the last-recorded speed and altitude, its payload, and its compromised aerodynamics due to its missing canopy.

But as a general rule, the F-35B reportedly can fly for about 900 nautical miles (1,667 kilometers) on its internal fuel alone.

Early speculations on the reasons why the F-35B might have continued flying on autopilot after the pilot ejected:

• The pilot engaged autopilot before ejecting.
• The autopilot system was engaged automatically as part of the ejection sequence.
• The autopilot system was triggered by a malfunction in the aircraft's systems.

In November 2017, in remarks to U.S. Coast Guard members, former U.S. President Donald Trump once said that:

Fortunately, the F-35 is designed to be hard to detect only by radar devices, and not invisible to the human eyes.

And when the time the plane ran out of fuel and crashed, it was evident where it fell.

The debris was discovered in the evening, about two hours northeast of Joint Base Charleston, an air base in North Charleston, officials said, without providing further details.

"Teams from Joint Base Charleston, Marine Corps Air Station 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 have been working together to locate the U.S. Marine Corps F-35B," Joint Base Charleston said in a Facebook post.

"Members of the community should avoid the area as the recovery team secures the debris field."