F35 down and missing in SC

Somewhere between 20 and 40 miles. Never saw the general area where he ejected, only a very general listing.
 
I'd sure like to know why he ejected from a plane that was capable of flying at least 40 miles. You'd think he would have had an option to land it somewhere.
 
Lindberg said:
Maybe it was capable of flying, but not capable of being controlled.
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Possible, though it seems like ejection wasn't an immediate necessity. I'm sure there's more to the story, and it's unlikely we'll ever hear it.
 
Half Fast said:
Possible, though it seems like ejection wasn't an immediate necessity. I'm sure there's more to the story, and it's unlikely we'll ever hear it.
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I don't know if it was mentioned here or not, but I've read it elsewhere.

The accident aircraft was an F-35B, the VTOL model. The VTOL model has many unique features, but one of them is an automated ejection initiation. Normally this is only active while in hover mode, but the fact the computer has such an ability could lead to the possibility of an uncommanded ejection. I'm not saying that is what happened here by any means, just more fuel for the discussion.

My understanding of why the F-35B has this system is that if control was lost in a hover, things could happen so quickly a pilot may not have time to eject. The solution was automation to remove the human response time.
 
B's are actually STOVL, by design....Short Takeoff Vertical Landing.....a vertical takeoff can be done under limited circumstances, but it was never a performance priority.
 

What do we know?​

The F-35B Lightning II jet, manufactured by Lockheed Martin and operated by the Marine Corps since 2015, took off from Joint Base Charleston on Sunday afternoon. It was one of two planes involved in a routine training flight, Capt. Joe Leitner, spokesperson for the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, told reporters, according to The Post and Courier.

They have a Joint Base?
Could explain the crash... and/or any Cheetohs at the site.
 
Craig said:
B's are actually STOVL, by design....Short Takeoff Vertical Landing.....a vertical takeoff can be done under limited circumstances, but it was never a performance priority.
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Correct. Vertical takeoff was never a requirement. The aircraft can (and has) takeoff vertically but you won’t be able to re-use the surface ever again….
 
midwestpa24 said:
I don't know if it was mentioned here or not, but I've read it elsewhere.

The accident aircraft was an F-35B, the VTOL model. The VTOL model has many unique features, but one of them is an automated ejection initiation. Normally this is only active while in hover mode, but the fact the computer has such an ability could lead to the possibility of an uncommanded ejection. I'm not saying that is what happened here by any means, just more fuel for the discussion.

My understanding of why the F-35B has this system is that if control was lost in a hover, things could happen so quickly a pilot may not have time to eject. The solution was automation to remove the human response time.
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Possibly related: https://www.military.com/daily-news...discovered-3-months-ago-jets-kept-flying.html
 
X3 Skier said:
the epitome of factual reporting.
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What was that on all the news feeds last night about an ATC recording of someone quoting the pilot, "just lost it in the weather'?
Was that a factual quote from the pilot?
If so, does that mean spatialD? Or, lost sight of it while under canopy?
 
My money says the plane got hacked somehow and someone else had momentary control. If that’s the case, you will hear some stupid reason the pilot got out and we will never hear the truth of it.


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Peter Anderson said:
My money says the plane got hacked somehow and someone else had momentary control. If that’s the case, you will hear some stupid reason the pilot got out and we will never hear the truth of it.


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Lol. No.
 
Peter Anderson said:
Well reports say the pilot bailed out due to weather. So half my theory is true.


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Really? Sorry, ain't buyin' it.

Apparently his wingman flew just fine in that weather. And if our latest & greatest fighter, being flown by a (supposedly) highly skilled military aviator, is so susceptible to bad weather that the pilot has to eject, we're in a world of hurt.

Nope. I don't believe it.
 
Half Fast said:
Really? Sorry, ain't buyin' it.

Apparently his wingman flew just fine in that weather. And if our latest & greatest fighter, being flown by a (supposedly) highly skilled military aviator, is so susceptible to bad weather that the pilot has to eject, we're in a world of hurt.

Nope. I don't believe it.
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Ya. I agree


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X3 Skier said:
What reports?

Unless it was a volcanic eruption right under the aircraft, not happening.
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Like I said earlier. At least half my theory was right. They would give us some lame excuse and expect us to roll with it.




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Not sure why the controversy. Guy punched out of a jet and it kept flying. It’s happened before, why is that so hard to understand. Buddy of mine punched out of an A-4 on take off two months ago. It happens. Maintenance, weather, spatial D? Couple years ago an F-35 pilot ejected because of wake turbulence. Multiple reasons for getting out and trashing a jet.
 
Velocity173 said:
Not sure why the controversy. Guy punched out of a jet and it kept flying. It’s happened before, why is that so hard to understand. Buddy of mine punched out of an A-4 on take off two months ago. It happens. Maintenance, weather, spatial D? Couple years ago an F-35 pilot ejected because of wake turbulence. Multiple reasons for getting out and trashing a jet.
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Years ago in a land far far away, we had an F15 pilot get his jet into a flat spin and punched out. He stated in his safety report that as he was in his parachute he watched the aircraft recover on its own and fly over the horizon. The plane’s still at the bottom of the Pacific if anyone wants to build a carbon fiber sub and go see it.
 
aterry1067 said:
Years ago in a land far far away, we had an F15 pilot get his jet into a flat spin and punched out. He stated in his safety report that as he was in his parachute he watched the aircraft recover on its own and fly over the horizon. The plane’s still at the bottom of the Pacific if anyone wants to build a carbon fiber sub and go see it.
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Speaking of Beaufort, this accident happened when I was there. Went out over the Atlantic at night with storms in the area and the aircraft / crew were never seen again. Not a trace.

Accident McDonnell Douglas F/A-18D Hornet 164963,

Crashed at sea.
aviation-safety.net
 
Peter Anderson said:
Like I said earlier. At least half my theory was right. They would give us some lame excuse and expect us to roll with it.




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Lol. That report is hilarious. The headline states he punched out because of weather, but then the rest of it just says it can’t fly near thunderstorms….. and that he “could” have ejected because of weather.

The 35 can handle some pretty serious weather. We land them on carrier decks, in serious crosswinds, and vertically on LHDs every day.

*edit to add: yeah, some media outlets may report some pretty silly opinions, but media is not an official report.
 
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Palmpilot said:
I still haven't figured out why all the water hasn't run off the end of the earth.
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The ice walls! Ask any flat earther; everyone knows the ice walls keep everything contained.

:stirpot:
 
aterry1067 said:
Lol. That report is hilarious. The headline states he punched out because of weather, but then the rest of it just says it can’t fly near thunderstorms….. and that he “could” have ejected because of weather.

The 35 can handle some pretty serious weather. We land them on carrier decks, in serious crosswinds, and vertically on LHDs every day.

*edit to add: yeah, some media outlets may report some pretty silly opinions, but media is not an official report.
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Very true on all accounts.


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Peter Anderson said:
Like I said earlier. At least half my theory was right. They would give us some lame excuse and expect us to roll with it.




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The Daily Mail. Right up there with the National Enquirer. Surprised they didn’t quote SGOTI who saw an Alien Spaceship extracting the pilot while dropping one of their own in full flight gear under a chute.

”lost it in the weather” means he lost sight of the plane in the clouds after ejecting IMNSHO.
 
Weather could be a factor, especially if he had a HUD or avionics failure. I have read the F-35 is extremely difficult to fly without a HUD because there are few visual and tactile cues provided by the aircraft to the pilot I believe one even crashed during an attempted landing at Eglin AFB years ago and HUD failure was a contributing cause.
 
Maybe it was like the Oshkosh F16 where it went IMC inside the cockpit.
 
midwestpa24 said:
Weather could be a factor, especially if he had a HUD or avionics failure. I have read the F-35 is extremely difficult to fly without a HUD because there are few visual and tactile cues provided by the aircraft to the pilot I believe one even crashed during an attempted landing at Eglin AFB years ago and HUD failure was a contributing cause.
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Given the cost, one would hope there was some sort of usable backup.
 
There are sure a bunch of wild ideas being tossed about on here. Most make so little sense as to be nonsensical. The Marine Corps already basically knows what happened since they have the pilots statement. There are reports the pilot was very senior. Quite possibly a O6 or even 07. It would not be the first time a senior office was being given a quick checkout in an aircraft. Often these type checkout are done over a weekend cross country to knock out the minimum number of flights for a basic Natops qual. The rank of the mishap pilot might be playing a part in the Marine Corps refusing to provide even the most basic info on the flight.
 
Jeff767 said:
The rank of the mishap pilot might be playing a part in the Marine Corps refusing to provide even the most basic info on the flight.
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Its a military aircraft. They don't have to publicly release anything at this stage.
 
Half Fast said:
Really? Sorry, ain't buyin' it.

Apparently his wingman flew just fine in that weather. And if our latest & greatest fighter, being flown by a (supposedly) highly skilled military aviator, is so susceptible to bad weather that the pilot has to eject, we're in a world of hurt.

Nope. I don't believe it.
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It IS an F-35. :D
 
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