A US Marine Corps F-35B crashed today South Carolina, near Marine Corp Air Station Beaufort, the US military has confirmed.

The pilot is believed to have ejected but his status is unknown, the official said. The F-35B conducted its first-ever airstrike on Thursday.

This is the first time an F-35 has crashed. The sheriff’s office said in a tweet here that the pilot ejected safely. It wasn’t immediately clear if the pilot was injured.

More on this as it develops.

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George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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maurice10
maurice10
5 years ago

Talk about taking the wind out of your sail, this is sad news. Let’s hope the pilot is okay? There is always a first, but these incidents can halt immediate operation unless there are clear reasons for the crash. Bang goes the QE F35 trials, if the cause is unknown?

Pacman27
Pacman27
5 years ago
Reply to  Helions

Indeed Helions,

Let’s hope its all ok

Nigel Collins
Nigel Collins
5 years ago

Planes can always be replaced if the pilots OK that’s all that matters.

Steve
Steve
5 years ago
Reply to  Nigel Collins

I don’t mean to be cold but in reality it’s the reverse. Pilot is a lot cheaper and faster to replace than the jet.

For sure if I had a choice between pilot and plane, I would go pilot everyone but if you look at it as a maths puzzle you choose the reverse.

Mr Bell
Mr Bell
5 years ago
Reply to  Steve

That’s more than cold that is brutal. The pilot is the most important of the pairing. The jet can and will be replaced. A Human beings life is precious and priceless

dadsarmy
dadsarmy
5 years ago
Reply to  Steve

Well, it would cost in the region of $10 to $20 million to train a pilot, including the simulator and flying hours, plus combat training. So even with a brutal look at it, the loss of a pilot is very expensive.

Anyways, glad he got out, hope he’s OK.

John Pattullo
John Pattullo
5 years ago
Reply to  Steve

well its unlikely you could lose the pilot but have the plane land safely – so realistically the pilot ejecting safely is the best outcome of a bad situation

Jonathan
Jonathan
5 years ago
Reply to  Steve

The economic cost is irrelevant to replacability. it’s easy to build another plane ( although it may cost more money than to train a pilot). The mothers son/daughter, sister/Brother, father/mother friend and colleague could never be replace and would forever leave behind an irreparable void in the lives of main. If the cost in these cases is only money one does not truly overly much care ( money after all is no more or less than the symbolic represention of labour), this loss of time on ect will be an issue, but one thing I have learnt in life “if… Read more »

Elliott
Elliott
5 years ago
Reply to  Jonathan

Minimum of 22 years to make a fighter pilot. Pilots have a much longer production time therefore are more valuable.

Julian
Julian
5 years ago
Reply to  Elliott

Plus it’s not 22 pilots-under-construction going in at year one and 22 fully qualified pilots coming out at the end of year 22. I’m not sure what the attrition rate is, either from dropping out or due to other factors such as being seduced by a much bigger paycheck somewhere along the journey, but I assume it’s pretty significant.

Derek
Derek
5 years ago
Reply to  Steve

Look to the lessons of war. When industry ramps up to defend one’s country there is never a shortage of planes coming off the production line, there is ALWAYS a shortage of good pilots and a surfeit of average ones who become casualties. This argument is true in all cases.

The loss of a highly trained and skilled pilot cannot be measured against a machine that can be produced anytime you wish to simply order more.

Postpositivist
Postpositivist
5 years ago

Very glad the pilot got out of the aircraft safely. Thank you Martin-Baker.

Felix
Felix
5 years ago

Why has the f-35 landing on queen Liz been removed?

Levi Goldsteinberg
Levi Goldsteinberg
5 years ago
Reply to  Felix

Allegedly there’s a media embargo until 10pm GMT. Don’t ask me why

geoff
geoff
5 years ago

Sorry news but nice to know the Pilot is safe. Such accidents are inevitable and it must be said that the F35 has had an excellent safety record to date notwithstanding development issues and relatively small number of operating hours thus far