The US military said it has found debris from a crashed F-35 fighter jet in South Carolina on Monday, a day after asking for the public’s help in locating the wreckage.
The pilot of the advanced F-35B Lightning II jet had safely ejected from the aircraft on Sunday afternoon. A probe is ongoing to establish the circumstances.
The military’s Joint Base Charleston on Sunday had asked people on Twitter to call with any information to assist the recovery teams.
The debris was discovered in Williamsburg County, about two hours northeast of Joint Base Charleston.
Residents were being asked to avoid the area while a recovery team worked to secure the $160m (£129m) jet.
The fighter jet’s main advantages, according to manufacturer Lockheed Martin, are that it is nearly impossible to track with radar and is packed with advanced sensors.
Authorities had been searching for the jet since the pilot, whose name hasn’t been released, parachuted to safety into a North Charleston neighbourhood about 2 pm Sunday.
He was taken to a hospital, where he was in stable condition, Marines Major Melanie Salinas said.
“The mishap is currently under investigation, and we are unable to provide additional details to preserve the integrity of the investigative process," the Marine Corps said in a statement.
The Marine Corps announced earlier Monday it was pausing aviation operations for two days after the fighter jet’s crash — the third costly accident in six weeks.
Accidents are designated as a ‘Class-A mishap’ when damages reach $2.5 million (£2.02m) or more, a US Department of Defense aircraft is destroyed, or someone dies or is permanently disabled.
Officials have not disclosed details of the previous two incidents.
However, in August, three US Marines were killed in the crash of a V-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft during a training exercise in Australia.
Meanwhile, a Marine Corps pilot was also killed when his combat jet crashed near a San Diego base during a training flight.
