- By Mayukh Debnath
- Tue, 19 Sep 2023 03:36 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
The Marine Corps of the United States of America has issued a 'stand down' order for its entire aircraft fleet - deployed both inside and outside the country. The grounding of all of the US maritime land force's military planes comes just days after one of its F-35 multirole fighter jets crashed in South Carolina. The warplane crashed after flying on autopilot for probably 'hundreds of miles' as its pilot had ejected out.
"During the safety stand down, aviation commanders will lead discussions with their Marines focusing on the fundamentals of safe flight operations, ground safety, maintenance and flight procedures, and maintaining combat readiness," a statement issued by the Marine Corps said.
According to the US military, the debris from the crashed F-35 combat jet was found on Monday (local time). The pilot of the F-35B Lightning II jet had safely ejected from the aircraft on Sunday afternoon. The reason behind the ejection remains unclear. The unidentified pilot reportedly enabled the autopilot mode before ejecting out of the aircraft.
"Once they interview the pilot, we'll pretty much know everything," General (R) Philip Breedlove, a retired US Air Force officer was quoted as saying by news outlet NBC. "Since he lived, there's no use in the conjecture piece of this. They'll know exactly what happened very quickly, and I would caution everybody wait rather than get speculating," he added.
The F-35's main advantages, according to manufacturer Lockheed Martin, are that it is nearly impossible to track with radar and is packed with advanced sensors and other gear. The capability likely prolonged the military's attempts to track the 'zombie aircraft'.
During the search operation, Joint Base Charleston, the air base to which the ill-fated fighter jet was assigned, asked people on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to "call the Base Defense Operations Center" with any information to assist the recovery teams.
(With inputs from Reuters)
