Authorities searching for missing F-35 plane after Marine pilot ejected during flight over Charleston
- Pilot parachuted to safety during flight over South Carolina
- This is a developing story
Marine Corps investigators have launched an inquiry after one of their pilots ejected from an F-35 fighter aircraft over South Carolina on Sunday afternoon.
A spokesman for Joint Base Charleston said the pilot was in a Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort F-35 when the ‘mishap’ occurred.
He was found alive and taken to a nearby medical center after parachuting into South Kenwood Drive just a few hundred yards from the airbase in North Charleston.
His wingman, in an accompanying aircraft, safely landed at Joint Base Charleston.
Officials are working to locate the F-35.
The pilot was flying a Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort F-35
The 20,000 acre airbase is home to the 628th Air Base Wing and shares runways with Charleston International Airport for commercial airlines operations on the south side of its airfield, and general aviation aircraft operations on the east side.
This is a developing story.