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.
“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.
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.