Seven injured after f-35 jet crashes on aircraft carrier in south china sea.
The pilot of a US F-35 jet ejected as his jet crashed on the deck of
the uss carl vinson aircraft carrier in the south china sea, injuring seven
the u.s pacific fleet said in a statement monday.
The pilot was conducting routine flight operations when the crash happened,
they safely ejected and were recovered by a military helicopter, pacific
fleet said.
The pilot is in stable condition six others were injured on the deck of the
carrier, three required evacuation to a medical facility in manila
philippines where they are in stable condition, according to pacific fleet.
The other three sailors were treated on the carrier and have been released.
the cause of what the statement called a in-flight mishap is under
investigation.
A spokesman for the navy's seventh fleet in japan Lieutenant Mark Langford
said tuesday the impact to the vincent's flight deck was superficial and the
warship and its air wing had resumed normal operations. As for the F-35 the
status of the recovery is in progress, Langford said.
The F-35A flown by the air force takes off and lands on conventional runways
and the F-35B the marine corps version is a short takeoff vertical landing
aircraft that can operate off the navy's amphibious assault ships.
Versions of the F-35 are also flown by u.s allies and partners including
Japan, South Korea the United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, Norway, the
Netherlands and Israel.
More countries have orders in for the jet the u.s navy variant features more
robust landing gear to handle carrier takeoffs and landings, folding wings
to fit on a crowded flight, deck larger wings, a slightly larger payload and
a slightly longer operating range, according to the aircraft's manufacturer
lockheed martin.
The F-35C was the last of the three variants to become operational doing so
in only 2019. Carl Vinson was the first of the u.s navy's 11 aircraft
carriers to deploy with the F-35C when it left San Diego last august. This
deployment marks the first time in u.s naval aviation history that a stealth
strike fighter has been deployed operationally on an aircraft carrier,
Lockheed Martin said.
The addition of the F-35C to carrier air wing 2 aboard carl vinson for its
current deployment marks the first time a u.s carrier has flown with what
the navy calls its air wing of the future, which also includes F/A-18E
fighters, E/A-18G electronic warfare aircraft, E-2D airborne early warning
aircraft and cmv 22 tilt rotor transports.
Monday's crash in the south china sea was the second of an F-35 this year.
on january 4th the pilot of a south korean F-35 made an emergency belly
landing at an air base on tuesday after its landing gear malfunctioned due
to electronic issues, according to the south korean air force.
In previous years F-35s have been involved in at least eight other
incidents, according to records kept by the crowdsourced website F-16.net .
Last november a british F-35B crashed into the mediterranean sea of the
aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth. The pilot ejected safely, in may 2020
the pilot ejected safely when a u.s air force F-35 crashed on landing at
eglin air force base in florida. the air force attributed the crash to a
variety of factors involving the pilot and the plane systems.
In april 2019 a japanese F-35 crashed into the pacific ocean off northern
japan, killing its pilot. The Japanese military blamed that crash on spatial
disorientation, a situation in which a pilot cannot sense correctly the
position, attitude, altitude or the motion of an airplane, according to the
journal military medicine.
When the latest crash occurred carl vinson and its escorts were operating in
the south china sea along with the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group in dual
carrier operations that began on sunday, according to navy social media
accounts.
The 1.3 million square mile south china sea has been the site of frequent
naval activity in the past several years as China has asserted its claims
over almost all of the area by building up and militarizing islands and
reefs.
The u.s military asserts its right to operate freely in what are
international waters. Carrier deployments like the current one exercise
those rights.
The two strike groups along with a japanese helicopter destroyer staged a
large exercise on saturday in the philippine sea, the part of the pacific
ocean between taiwan and the u.s island territories of guam and the northern
mariana islands.
A day after that exercise china sent 39 warplanes into taiwan's
self-declared air defense identification zone, the largest such incursion of
chinese warplanes into that zone this year.
