Salvage Operation Underway Days After Navy F-35C Landing Mishap

According to a Japan Coast Guard NAVAREA navigational notice issued January 29, salvage operations in the northern part of the South China Sea would be ongoing "until further notice." 

The notice provides coordinates near the location where the fighter jet fell off the deck of the USS Carl Vinson and west of the Philippines, U.S. Naval Institute News said.

While Navy spokespersons did not comment on the development, news of the salvage operation follows the U.S. Navy's announcement last week that it had launched a recovery operation in an attempt to retrieve the F-35C that went into ocean waters during a “landing mishap” earlier last week.

“The U.S. Navy is making recovery operations arrangements for the F-35C aircraft involved in the mishap aboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) in the South China Sea, January 24,” 7th Fleet spokesperson Lt. Nicholas Lingo said in a statement last Wednesday.

The Navy pilot ejected from the F-35C Lightning II during the incident and was recovered from the water by a U.S. military helicopter, Lingo said. The pilot was listed as in stable condition.

The incident, which is now under investigation, occurred during routine flight operations involving a fighter jet assigned to the Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2, according to the service.

Seven sailors on board the aircraft carrier were also injured in the incident. Four were treated onboard for their injuries and three were transported to a medical facility in Manilla, Philippines, and were listed as in stable condition.

On January 23, the Carl Vinson and USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Groups launched drills in the South China Sea. During the exercise, ships and aircraft were to conduct coordinated surface and air operations.

Earlier this month, the USS Abraham Lincoln deployed with the Marine Corps’ first F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter squadron, and at the helm, the first female commander of a U.S. Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

The F-35 landing mishap is the second reported in less than a month. A South Korean F-35A was forced into an emergency belly landing January 4 when its landing gear malfunctioned.