Details of First-Ever F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Crash Are Developing.
A U.S. Marine F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter has crashed near Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station outside of Beaufort, South Carolina on the U.S. East Coast. Reports indicate the pilot ejected from the aircraft. His condition is not known at this time.
MCAS Beaufort is home to Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 (VMFAT-501), the “Warlords”. The unit is a training squadron equipped with 20 F-35B Lightning II aircraft and serves as the Fleet Replacement Squadron.
Military plane crash in Beaufort near Joe Allen Drive area. Appears to have crashed on a bluff/island owned by Clarendon Plantations. Not usually many people over there. Praying for the safety of all involved! pic.twitter.com/dM5a8v2lg1
— 𝑺𝒂𝒎 𝑹𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔𝒐𝒏 (@SamRichardsonAM) September 28, 2018
This first-ever crash of an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter comes only one day after a U.S. Marine F-35B flew its first operational combat mission over Afghanistan.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
Update 17.55 GMT
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US Marine Corps confirms to me this is unrelated to any RN/RAF F-35 flights off HMS Queen Elizabeth https://t.co/8O3Q1dZKHo
— Jamie Merrill (@Jamie_Merrill) September 28, 2018
Update 18.48 GMT
Video filmed at the crash site:
