An F-35 Bravo Lightning II fighter jet crashed in the US state of South Carolina, marking the first accident involving the American military's most advanced and expensive aircraft, a spokesperson for the US Marines told Sputnik on Friday.
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th September, 2018) An F-35 Bravo Lightning II fighter jet crashed in the US state of South Carolina, marking the first accident involving the American military's most advanced and expensive aircraft, a spokesperson for the US Marines told Sputnik on Friday.
"It was an F-35 Bravo out of the training quadrant, in Beaufort," the spokesperson confirmed when asked about reports that a military aircraft had crash earlier in the day.
Earlier on Friday, the Beaufort County Sheriff's office announced in an advisory that a military plane near the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort had crashed at approximately 11:45 a.m.
Both the sheriff's office and the Marines' spokesperson said the pilot of the aircraft safely ejected.
The Marines said in a subsequent statement that the pilot of the single-seat aircraft was undergoing medical evaluation and that no civilians were hurt in the crash.
The cause of the crash is still being investigated, the Marines said.
The incident marks the first F-35 crash during the course of the aircraft's nearly 20-year history.
The F-35 is regularly described as the most expensive aircraft and military program in history with projections of its costs running to $1.5 trillion over a total 30-year period. It continues to be plagued by delays, cost overruns and failures of fundamental systems including ejector seats and its one cannon.
The F-35B is the world's first supersonic short and vertical takeoff and landing (STOVL) aircraft and is operated by the Marine Corps. It is the first of the three F-35 variants that has been cleared as combat-ready.
