2023-09-22 03:59:05
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A pilot whose advanced fighter jet was temporarily missing over the weekend is heard repeatedly requesting an ambulance in a disconcerting 911 call from a home in South Carolina. South to which he had parachuted, according to an audio recording provided to The Associated Press on Thursday.
The 4-minute recording captures the unusual circumstances of three unidentified people who were involved: a North Charleston resident who calmly explains that a pilot had just parachuted into his backyard, the pilot who does not know the fate of his F jet -35 and a perplexed telephone operator who tries to unravel the situation.
“We have a pilot at home and I guess he landed in my backyard; We want to see if you could send an ambulance to our house, please,” said the resident.
The pilot, who said he was 47 years old, reported feeling fine after his descent, which he said was from about 600 meters (2,000 feet), with only his back hurting. The resident commented that the pilot looked good.
“Madam, a military jet has gone down. I am the pilot. “We need to send the rescue,” said the pilot. “I am not sure where the plane is. It must have crashed somewhere. “I ejected.”
Later in the call, the pilot makes another request for medical assistance.
“Madam, I am the pilot of a military plane, and I ejected. I went down by parachute. Could you please send an ambulance?” said the pilot.
The Marine Corps has described the pilot as an experienced aviator with decades in the cockpit.
The F-35 crashed Sunday due to a failure that forced the pilot to eject over Charleston and land in the backyard of a home not far from Charleston International Airport.
The fighter jet, which the Marine Corps said was at an altitude of just about 1,000 feet (300 meters), continued flying for about 60 miles (100 kilometers) until it crashed in a rural area near Indiantown. It took more than a day to locate the remains.
In another 8-minute emergency call provided to the AP on Thursday, an unidentified official tried to explain that they had “a pilot with his parachute” but no information about what happened to their plane, which they did not know if it had crashed. He said “the pilot could no longer see his aircraft as he descended due to the weather.”
The Marine Corps explained Thursday that fighter jets have a function that protects pilots in emergencies and that could explain why the F-35 continued to fly. He said that although it was unclear why the jet continued to fly, the flight control software would have worked to keep it stable if the pilot no longer had his hands on the controls.
“If the jet is stable in level flight it will try to stay there. If it did not perform a set climb or descent, the jet will remain at 1G acceleration in climb or descent until otherwise ordered,” the Marine Corps said in a statement.
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