Rescue teams found wreckage from a crashed Japanese F-35 stealth fighter in the Pacific Ocean close to northern Japan as efforts to find the missing pilot continues, authorities said on Wednesday.
“The aircraft, less than one-year-old, was the first F-35 to be assembled in Japan and was aloft for only 28 minutes on Tuesday before contact was lost.
“The plane had logged a total of 280 hours in the air since its first flight, he added. It is only the second F-35 to crash in the two-decades it has been flying and could reignite concern about the F-35 having only one engine. The incident came as Lockheed Martin, the F-35 manufacturer, competes for orders in Finland and Switzerland against the twin-engined Eurofighter Typhoon and Boeing F/A-18E/F jet.
“The advanced, single-seat jet was flying in good weather about 135 km east of the Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture at about 7:27 p.m. (1027 GMT) on Tuesday when it disappeared from radar. “We recovered the wreckage and determined it was from the F-35,” a spokesman for the Air Self Defence Force (ASDF) said, adding that the pilot of the aircraft was still missing. Eight ships and seven aircraft, including a U.S. Navy P-8 Orion maritime patrol plane, are taking part in search and rescue efforts.
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