US military searching for missing F-35 after pilot ejects near Charleston, SC

The U.S. military is hunting for an $80 million F-35 fighter jet after a pilot ejected from the military aircraft near Charleston, S.C., on Sunday.

Officials at Joint Base Charleston said they were working with a local Marine base to “locate an F-35 that was involved in a mishap” Sunday afternoon. The pilot ejected safely from the jet and is receiving medical care.

“If you have any information that may help our recovery teams locate the F-35, please call the Base Defense Operations Center at 843-963-3600,” they wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

The military is searching for the F-35 north of Joint Base Charleston, near Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion.

The incident is raising eyebrows across the country.

“How in the hell do you lose an F-35?” South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace (R) asked on X. “How is there not a tracking device and we’re asking the public to what, find a jet and turn it in?”

The missing plane is a F-35B Lightning II jet, a fifth-generation aircraft and one of the most advanced warplanes in the world; it costs roughly $80 million.

The aircraft was operating with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, according to Joint Base Charleston, an aviation unit that operates on the East Coast.