Audio from a 911 call captured the moment a South Carolina resident told a dispatcher “we got a pilot in the house” after an F-35 fighter jet crashed over the weekend.
The four-minute recording that has surfaced following the crash that happened Sunday in Williamsburg County also includes the self-identified pilot saying he was feeling “okay,” but that his “back hurts a little bit” after ejecting from the aircraft and falling an estimated 2,000 feet.
“I’m sorry, what happened?” the dispatcher asks.
“We got a pilot in the house, and I guess he landed in my backyard, and we’re trying to see if we could get an ambulance to the house, please,” the homeowner says in audio released by the Charleston County government.
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The pilot was reported to be at a home in North Charleston while the debris field from the jet was discovered about 80 miles away in Williamsburg County, according to WCSC.
The pilot at one point hopped on the call, saying, “We have a military jet crash. 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.”
The pilot said an “aircraft failure” caused the accident before later asking the dispatcher “has there been a report of an airplane crash?”
“Ma’am, I’m a pilot in a military aircraft, and I ejected. So, I just rode a parachute down to the ground. Can you please send an ambulance?” he added.
Joint Base Charleston said on Sunday that personnel from the facility and Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort “are responding to a mishap involving an F-35B Lightning II jet from Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing.”
“The pilot ejected safely and was transferred to a local medical center in stable condition,” the base said at the time. “Emergency response teams are still trying to locate the F-35.”
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On Monday, Joint Base Charleston said the same personnel located a debris field in Williamsburg County.
“The debris was discovered two hours northeast of Joint Base Charleston,” they said. “Teams from Joint Base Charleston, Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing out of MCAS Cherry Point, Navy Region Southeast, the FAA, the Civil Air Patrol, as well as local, county, and state law enforcement across South Carolina have been working together to locate the U.S. Marine Corps F-35B.”
“Members of the community should avoid the area as the recovery team secures the debris field,” Joint Base Charleston added.
