Military officials revealed that they had discovered debris in South Carolina after an F-35 fighter jet went missing over the weekend.
The Joint Base Charleston (JBC) said in a post on Facebook on Monday evening that officials from the base and the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) located in Beaufort, South Carolina had “located a debris field” two hours northeast of JBC.
“Personnel from Joint Base Charleston and Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, in close coordination with local authorities, have located a debris field in Williamsburg County,” JBC said in the post.
In addition to teams from JBC and MCAS Beaufort, the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing from MCAS Cherry Point, a team from the Navy Region Southeast, personnel from the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and a team from the Civil Air Patrol had been working together to locate the missing F-35 fighter jet.
JBC and MCAS Beaufort posted a joint Facebook statement on Sunday asking for the public’s assistance in finding the more than $80 million missing plane after the pilot was ejected due to a “mishap” and the plane continued flying.
This incident marked the third Class-A aviation mishap to occur over the past six weeks, according to a press release from the Marine Corps. All Marine Corps aviation units were ordered to stand down for two days.
Incidents fall under this classification when the damages end up totaling $2 million or greater, or if there is an injury or death from the incident, according to the Marine Corps mishap index.
“The mishap is currently under investigation, and we are unable to provide additional details to preserve the integrity of the investigative process,” JBC said in its Facebook post, noting that the investigation would be transferred to the USMC.