The Navy has discovered an F-35 stealth military aircraft that crashed into the South China Sea after it crashed while trying to land on a Navy aircraft carrier, the service said Thursday.
The Japanese-based Navy’s Seventh Fleet said a remote-controlled vehicle was attached to the aircraft, which was then raised 12,400 feet above the ocean’s surface and winched aboard a civilian vessel called the Picasso, which the Navy had hired to assist in the operation.
“This deliberate approach resulted in the correct conduct of recovery operations within 37 days of the incident,” Capt. Gareth Healey, commander of the rescue task force, said in a statement.
“Given the unique challenges of this issue,” he said, “it was an aggressive and achievable schedule.”
The statement said the military aircraft will be flown to a nearby military facility and studied as part of an investigation into the crash, and may then be flown back to the United States. In recent rescue operations in the region, the Navy has taken the wrecked aircraft back to its base in Yokosuka, Japan.
The $94 million plane was flying from the USS Carl Vinson in the South China Sea on Jan. 24 when it struck the back of the roughly 1,100-foot long ship’s flight deck and skidded nearly the entire length of the ship before sinking into the water. . The pilot ejected and was removed from the water, after which he was evacuated to Manila for treatment along with two other sailors who were injured in the crash. The medical staff on board the ship attended to four more sailors who were injured.
Initially, the Navy said little about the accident publicly, but photos of the F-35 sitting in the water began to surface online. According to the U.S. Naval Institute, video footage of the crash from the crew was later leaked online, sparking an investigation that resulted in four sailors being charged with releasing the footage.