Puzzled Investigators Trying to Salvage the F-35’s Remains

As puzzlement increases over Japan’s F-35 crash into the Pacific, investigators are trying to salvage its remains. The Air Self Defense Force (ASDF) investigators found small sections of the highly classified jet’s wing floating in the sea. This suggests that the F-35 hit the water. However, bafflement remains as to why the aircraft disappeared from the radar screen without warning.

An air official said they haven’t determined the cause and search continues for the missing pilot. The remaining wreckage lies at the depth, about 1,500 meters. This includes the flight data recorder which would give an insight on what happened ‘that day’.

According to ASDF, the jet disappeared from military radar at 7.27pm on Tuesday, 28 minutes after takeoff with three other F-35 jets from Misawa airbase in Aomori on a night training flight. The jet is fitted with a transponder that pings its position and can be configured to light up on radar scopes during training flights. The plane was on on a low level practice run. Officials say the veteran pilot with 3,200 hours of flying time but only 60 hours in the F-35, should have had enough time to react to the emergency.

Fukuda Salvage official said the time needed to complete salvage operations depends on a lot of factors. “But its impossible to say how long it would take to recover the F-35."