Debris field located in South Carolina in search for F-35

| September 19, 2023

A debris field has been located in Williamsburg Country, South Carolina, that may be associated with the missing F-35. The Marines announced a two-day pause to address aviation safety and practices. Over the next two days, proper flight procedures, ground safety, maintenance and combat readiness will be covered. Congresswoman Nancy Mace did not appear to be satisfied with the briefing she received on this incident.

From Fox News:

The situation has perplexed Americans, including South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace, who said she had a very uninformative briefing on the incident.

“One of the shortest meetings I’ve ever had, bc guess what, no one @usmc sent over to brief me and my staff had any answers,” Mace wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Shocker.”

Earlier on Monday, the Marine Corps announced that there would be a two-day pause in operations “to discuss aviation safety matters and best practices.”

The branch referenced three Class-A aviation “mishaps” over the past six weeks as the main reason for the stand-down. During the pause, Marines will focus on measures such as proper flight procedures, ground safety, maintenance and combat readiness.

“This stand down [is] being taken to ensure the service is maintaining operational standardization of combat-ready aircraft with well-prepared pilots and crews,” the Marine Corps said in a press release.

“This pause invests time and energy in reinforcing the Marine aviation community’s established policies, practices and procedures in the interests of public safety, protecting our Marines and sailors, and ensuring the Marine Corps remains a ready and highly-trained fighting force,” the press release added.

Fox News, Military.com, Axios, and Forbes provide additional information on this latest development.

Category: Marines, Military issues, Navy

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Anna Puma

Big question is how far did the F-35 fly after pilot ejected? What was the in flight emergency that caused the ejection?

If the reason is the pilot inadvertently grabbed the bang handle, then the stand down to review procedures becomes evident. “Yo! Jarhead! Don’t yank the bang handle unless you are doing a MiG-28 and your instrument panel is lit up like Christmas.”

FuzeVT

Capt 1 “Once when I was a lieutenant, I lost my rifle for a whole day. It was really embarrassing.”
Capt 2 “I think I can top that. . . . “

AW1 Rod

I thought maybe it was an exercise, and he was trying to hang in a turning dogfight with a Stearman or a Sopwith.

SFC D

AW1Ed

The All Hands Self-flagellation known as a Safety Stand-around? Brilliant.

Sparks

Yep. One guy shits his pants and now everyone has to wear diapers.

jeff LPH 3 63-66

Well it’s Plane to see that the USMC plainely won’t give a plane answer to Ms. Mace which is a disgrace and is plane to see. I hope I don’t have to ex plane the comment. see you later Alligator.

Wireman611

Well you made that as plane as the nose on your face.

Sam

The Pentagon’s statement Monday on the aviation pause noted two other recent Class-A aviation mishaps.

On Aug. 24, an F/A-18D Hornet crashed in southern California during a training flight, killing the pilot. The crash occurred on remote government property east of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

An MV-22B Osprey crashed days later, on Aug. 27, off the Australian coast during a transport training exercise. The accident killed three Marines on board the tiltrotor aircraft. Five others were hospitalized in serious condition.

https://insidedefense.com/insider/smith-orders-aviation-pause-after-third-aircraft-mishap

Odie

Is “stand down” code for covering our asses while we come up with a good reason for losing an airplane?

Graybeard

It is code for “CYA while determining which E-level individual to scapegoat”.

AW1 Rod

Actually, a Safety Stand Down is SOP every six months in Regular Navy aviation. Don’t know about the Marines.

2banana

This makes no sense. A pilot ejects from a F-35 and then the plane flys about 100 miles on autopilot…

WHY DIDN’T YOU LAND THE DAMN THING???

Hack Stone

Upon further investigation, authorities announced that although this was debris from an F-35, it is not the debris from the F-35 they are looking for. 🥴

Sparks

LMOA!!!

Hack Stone

The should have tied a lanyard to the aircraft and to the pilot, the way the Staff Sergeant does for the idiot PFC who keeps losing his rifle.

Hack Stone

The pilot goes to Supply and tells the guy behind the counter “I need a missing gear statement.” The young Marine hands him the form. Pilot says “I’m going to need more paper.”

Sparks

Then young Marine says, “Got more paper, but we’re all out of crayons Sir.”

A Proud Infidel®™

Still missing, are we sure Biden didn’t sell and smuggle it to China?

KoB

I ask again…Anybody heard anything from Mick? Anyone? Bueller?

Odd that the ‘splaining hasn’t begun yet.

AT1 ret

LOL at the Pepsi jet comment.

2306p_bf_pepsi_1_16x9.jpg
MCPO USN

The bad part is some other poor SOB has to do the CASREP. Thanks, buddy.

MCPO USN

Also, Robin Sage is going on so maybe the SF guys are really that good…..

Tallywhagger

There is never a time when an F-35 location is unknown. This story is too stupid to have ever been given a moment of credibility.

It’s almost Bernathian.

USMC Steve

Why does Mace feel that she has any need to know? She is nowhere in their chain of command, and frankly other than being from that state, it is none of her business. Pretty arrogant behavior that I would expect from a socialist democrat frankly.

SFC D

I’m gonna take a wild guess and say that the USMC told Ms Mace everything they know. Which at that stage of the investigation consists of: (1) An F35 crashed. (2) The pilot ejected safely. (3) We haven’t found the aircraft. She ain’t satisfied with that? She’s gonna have to wait.

Old tanker

I briefly saw a headline this morning claiming the pilot of theF35 “lost it” in the weather. Translation: the pilot lacked proper instrument flight skills or flew into bad weather (T-storms) as a matter of poor piloting choices. It’s going to be interesting how this pans out.

sj

Will be interesting to hear what the wingman says. (Many places say it was a 2 ship flight)

tom reynolds

Was this an Affirmative Action pilot? I’ve read elsewhere that this aircraft is barely flyable and turns into a fireball if it encounters any flack. Getting rid of the A-10 for this useless pile of dogturds?