Aviation Safety F-35 Military Aviation

USMC F-35B Lightning Crashes Near MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina: Pilot Ejects.

Published on: September 28, 2018 at 6:34 PM

An F-35B Lighting II aircraft lands during a training exercise with Airborne Tactical Advantage Company aboard Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, April 14. The Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron utilized ATAC to train their pilots in anti-aircraft warfare. ATAC provided the adversary air presentation for VMFAT-501. The F-35B is with VMFAT-501.

Details of First-Ever F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Crash Are Developing.

A U.S. Marine F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter has crashed near Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station outside of Beaufort, South Carolina on the U.S. East Coast. Reports indicate the pilot ejected from the aircraft. His condition is not known at this time.

MCAS Beaufort is home to Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 (VMFAT-501), the “Warlords”. The unit is a training squadron equipped with 20 F-35B Lightning II aircraft and serves as the Fleet Replacement Squadron.

Military plane crash in Beaufort near Joe Allen Drive area. Appears to have crashed on a bluff/island owned by Clarendon Plantations. Not usually many people over there. Praying for the safety of all involved! pic.twitter.com/dM5a8v2lg1

— 𝑺𝒂𝒎 𝑹𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔𝒐𝒏 (@SamRichardsonAM) September 28, 2018

This first-ever crash of an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter comes only one day after a U.S. Marine F-35B flew its first operational combat mission over Afghanistan.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

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Update 17.55 GMT

US Marine Corps confirms to me this is unrelated to any RN/RAF F-35 flights off HMS Queen Elizabeth https://t.co/8O3Q1dZKHo

— Jamie Merrill (@Jamie_Merrill) September 28, 2018

Update 18.48 GMT

Video filmed at the crash site:

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TAGGED:F-35 crash F-35B U.S. Marine Corps

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By Tom Demerly

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Tom Demerly is a feature writer, journalist, photographer and editorialist who has written articles that are published around the world on TheAviationist.com, TACAIRNET.com, Outside magazine, Business Insider, We Are The Mighty, The Dearborn Press & Guide, National Interest, Russia’s government media outlet Sputnik, and many other publications. Demerly studied journalism at Henry Ford College in Dearborn, Michigan. Tom Demerly served in an intelligence gathering unit as a member of the U.S. Army and Michigan National Guard. His military experience includes being Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army Infantry School at Ft. Benning, Georgia (Cycle C-6-1) and as a Scout Observer in a reconnaissance unit, Company “F”, 425th INF (RANGER/AIRBORNE), Long Range Surveillance Unit (LRSU). Demerly is an experienced parachutist, holds advanced SCUBA certifications, has climbed the highest mountains on three continents and visited all seven continents and has flown several types of light aircraft.

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