'Get Rescue Rolling': Audio of 911 Call From F-35 Crash Captures Stunned Dispatcher
02:06 GMT 23.09.2023 (Updated: 02:12 GMT 23.09.2023)
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The F-35 fighter jet program is the most expensive in Pentagon history, estimated to cost over $1.7 trillion by the time it is completed. Despite its hefty price tag, the next-generation plane has been plagued by issues, and a recent report revealed nearly half of them are not ready to fly at any given time.
Newly released audio from the 911 phone call made by the resident whose backyard recently served as the landing site for the pilot of a crashed F-35 jet reveals just how bizarre the situation was for all parties involved.
In the Thursday-released recording, the resident can be heard calmly trying to explain the situation to a 911 dispatcher, who seems to have trouble wrapping her head around the series of unfortunate events.
“We got a pilot at our house and he says he’s been ejected – he ejected from a plane, so we wanted to see if we could get an ambulance please,” the resident can be heard saying.
“I’m sorry, what happened?” the dispatcher can be heard responding.
After the caller explains the situation again, the dispatcher, clearly still confused, can be heard asking for the caller’s phone number before saying that help is on the way and then asking him to hold.
Later, the pilot can be heard trying to explain the situation once again to the dispatcher.
22 September 2023, 01:10 GMT
“Ma’am, a military jet crashed. I’m the pilot. We need to get rescue rolling. I’m not sure where the airplane is. It would have crash landed somewhere. I ejected.”
Later, he can be heard asking for an ambulance, explaining he was in good shape but that he had some back pain.
The pilot was described by the Marine Corps as having decades of experience behind the cockpit.
The F-35 fighter jet crashed on Sunday after a malfunction caused the pilot to eject mid-flight over a residential area in Charleston near the city’s airport.
The plane’s crash site was not found for more than 24 hours, eventually being discovered in a rural area of South Carolina, about two hours north of Charleston.
In a different set of audio released earlier this week, an unnamed Marine Corp official and air traffic control could be heard trying to contact the then pilot-less plane, showing just how chaotic the situation was.
The Marines said in a statement that the plane likely continued flying because of an on-board system designed to protect pilots who become incapacitated during flight.
“If the jet is stable in level flight, the jet will attempt to stay there. If it was in an established climb or descent, the jet will maintain a 1G state in that climb or descent until commanded to do something else,” the Marine Corps said in a statement. “This is designed to save our pilots if they are incapacitated or lose situational awareness.”
The statement also noted the plane is designed to erase any secure communications if a pilot ejects, which combined with the plane’s stealth capabilities, made it more difficult to track the plane. While the plane does continue to broadcast on open channels in the event of a pilot ejection, the statement noted air traffic control may have not received those broadcasts because of the weather conditions at the time.
A full investigation of the incident has been opened, but it could be months before it is completed.
