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April 11, 2019

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Wreckage of crashed Japanese fighter found

Source: Agencies | 00:05 UTC+8 April 11, 2019 | Print Edition

Search and rescue teams found wreckage from a crashed Japanese F-35 stealth fighter in the Pacific Ocean close to northern Japan and are scouring the waters for the missing pilot, authorities said yesterday.

The aircraft, less than a year old, was the first F-35 assembled in Japan and was aloft for only 28 minutes on Tuesday before contact was lost, a defense official said. The plane had logged a total of 280 hours in the air, he added.

It was only the second F-35 to crash since the aircraft鈥檚 first flight in 2006 and could reignite concern about the F-35 having only one engine.

Manufacturer Lockheed Martin is competing for orders in Finland and Switzerland against the twin-engined Eurofighter Typhoon and Boeing F/A-18E/F jet.

The accident could influence Switzerland鈥檚 decision, but Finland could still pick the F-35 as it is close to Russia, said Justin Bronk, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London.

鈥淚 would be surprised if there was a common catastrophic fault hidden away in the F-35A,鈥 he added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty unlikely given the large number of flight hours already completed.鈥

鈥淲e recovered the wreckage and determined it was from the F-35,鈥 an Air Self-Defense Force spokesman said. Eight ships and seven aircraft, including a US Navy P-8 Orion maritime patrol plane, joined the search and rescue effort.

The aircraft was leading three F-35s on training maneuver when it sent an 鈥渁borting practice鈥 signal and disappeared from radar, said Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya.

The pilot, who had 3,200 hours of flying time but had spent only 60 hours in the F-35, gave no other indication he was in trouble, the ASDF spokesman said. No other countries operating the F-35 have grounded their stealth aircraft. Britain said it was reviewing the status of its 17 F-35B fighters for now.

Australia is also waiting, the Australian newspaper has said. A spokesman for the Royal Australian Air Force did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A representative for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries had no immediate comment.

The lost aircraft cost 14 billion yen (US$126 million), several million more than one bought directly from the US.

The aircraft crashed in waters whose depth reaches about 1,500 meters, making recovery, particularly of its flight data recorder, or black box, difficult.

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