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Updated January 25th, 2022 at 07:21 IST

7 US sailors injured after F-35 jet crash-lands on aircraft carrier in South China Sea

At least seven sailors were injured on Sunday after a US F-35 stealth aircraft crash-landed while conducting routine military exercise in the South China Sea.

Reported by: Dipaneeta Das
US Sailors
IMAGE: AP (representative) | Image:self
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At least seven sailors were injured on Sunday after a US F-35 stealth aircraft crash-landed in the South China Sea. According to a press release by the US Navy Pacific Fleet, the mishap took place while the fighter jet was conducting routine flight operations in the region on January 24. Three out of the seven sailors required immediate medical attention and were shifted to a facility in Manila, Philippines.

Meanwhile, the pilot of the F-35 fighter jet ejected safely and was recovered via a US military chopper. He is in stable condition. A probe is underway into what the US Navy called an "inflight mishap."

"An F-35C Lightning II, assigned to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2 had a landing mishap in the deck while USS Carl Gibson (CVN 70) was conducting routine flight operations in the South City Sea, January 24, 2022. The pilot ejected safely...and is in stable condition. There were seven total sailors injured..." the press statement by the US Navy read.

Four of the injured pilots were treated onboard by medical professionals. In the latest updates, all three MEDEVACs are assessed as stable, the statement added. Meanwhile, the other three treated in the vessel have been released. "Additional details and client the cause of the inflight mishap is under investigation," US Navy Pacific Fleet said.

It is to mention that the incident took place in the conflict-ridden international waters, on which Beijing has repeatedly asserted claims for the past several years. In addition, the mishap occurred a day after China reportedly sent 39 warplanes infringing Taiwanese Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ), the largest this year. The 1.3 million square miles South China Sea has remained a site of frequent naval activity with the US claiming rights to operate freely in international waters and Beijing militarising islands around the region.

Second F-35 fighter crash in January 

While the Monday crash in South China was reportedly the second crash of an F-35 stealth fighter, the F-35C or the US Navy's variant of the single-engine jet was the first-ever. On January 4, a South Korean pilot of F-35C had to make an emergency "belly landing" at an airbase after its landing gear malfunctioned, CNN reported, citing South Korean Airforce. In the past years F-35s have met with at least eight such accidents, a website F-16.net recorded.

In November, an F-35B of the British defence system crashed into the Mediterranean Sea off the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier. Earlier in May 2020, a US Air Force F-35 crash-landed at Eglin Air Force base in Florida. The USAF linked the incident to multiple factors, including the jet's system and pilot. While the pilots ejected safely from the aforementioned incidents, in April 2019, a Japanese pilot died after an F-35 crashed into the Pacific Ocean in the northern region of Japan. The aircraft crashed due to "spatial disorientation," a situation in which the pilot is unable to figure out the position, altitude, attitude of the plane, the Military Medicine described.

(Image: AP (representative)

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Published January 25th, 2022 at 07:21 IST

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