US Stealth Fighter Jet Missing After 'Mishap'

The U.S. Marine Corps is trying to locate a stealth fighter jet that went down after the pilot ejected during a "mishap."

The service branch has asked for the public's help in locating the F-35B Lightning II jet after the pilot ejected somewhere near Joint Base Charleston on Sunday afternoon.

Joint Base Charleston, an air base in North Charleston, South Carolina, said it was working with Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort to locate the F-35, manufactured by Lockheed Martin.

In a social media post on X, Joint Base Charleston asked anyone with information about the plane to call the base.

Joint Base Charleston said "emergency response teams are still trying to locate the F-35," worth upwards of $80 million, Axios reported.

"Based on the jet's last-known position and in coordination with the FAA, we are focusing our attention north of JB Charleston, around Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion," the air base said, Axios reported.

In a Facebook post, Joint Base Charleston said, "The pilot ejected safely and was transferred to a local medical center in stable condition."

Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported that the reason for the "mishap" was unknown.

The jet's transponder, which usually helps locate the aircraft, was not working "for some reason that we haven't yet determined," said Jeremy Huggins, a spokesman at Joint Base Charleston said, the Post reported. "So that's why we put out the public request for help."

Huggins said the search was being concentrated near Lake Moultrie, a murky body of water that is 75 feet deep at its deepest point and 14 miles across at its widest, the Post reported.

The Air Force considers any incident that "results in death, injury, illness or property damage" to be a mishap, which necessitates an investigation.

The extent of the damage to the plane that went down Sunday was not clear.

The Post reported that when an F-35 crashed in 2018, the incident was initially classified as a "Class A" mishap involving $2 million or more in damage, the complete destruction of the plane, or the fatality or permanent total disability of the crew.

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