Navy salvages $117M fighter jet that crashed into aircraft carrier and fell in the ocean
Pilot and six sailors were injured in the January incident in South China Sea
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The US Navy has salvaged the $117m fighter jet that crashed into the flight deck of an aircraft carrier before falling into the South China Sea.
The F-35C jet suffered a “landing mishap” on the USS Carl Vinson in January, and was pulled up from a depth of 12,400 feet and hauled onto a construction vessel earlier this week.
The aircraft was taken to a “nearby military installation” for an investigation into the incident.
The pilot and six sailors were injured in the crash, which also severed four fo the arresting cables that the carrier uses to catch landing aircraft.
Despite the damage, the carrier was able to launch aircraft again within 45 minutes.
“When the mishap happened, we had additional aircraft airborne that needed to land,” a defense official told Defense News in February.
“The training kicked in immediately.”
A Navy officer and four senior enlisted leaders were charged with failure to obey an order under Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice for posting video footage of the incident.
The Vinson, which had been at sea since last August, returned to San Diego in February at the end of its scheduled deployment.
It was the first ever deployment with the F35s onboard a carrier.
“The task force’s expertise in rapid, scalable command, control and communications, agile logistics, organic security, and explosive ordnance disposal was the most flexible choice for the fleet commander to respond in a timely manner,” Captain Gareth Healy, commodore of Task Force 75, said in a Navy news release.
Last March the Navy recovered a helicopter that crashed into the Philippine Sea in January 2020, raising it from a depth of more than 3.6 miles.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments