F-35 Pilot's 911 Call Sheds Light on Crash

The pilot of the F-35 Lightning II jet that crashed in South Carolina last weekend spoke on a 911 call for about four minutes after the crash, the Washington Examiner reports.

A local resident, whose name has not been released, placed a call to 911 after the F-35 pilot landed in their backyard using a parachute on Sunday.

"I guess we've got a pilot in our house, and he says he got ejected," the resident says in the 911 call, which was obtained by The Associated Press.

"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 resident added.

The pilot, whose name has not been released, then gets on the phone and talks to the operator, saying that he is OK and that he estimates he fell 2,000 feet after suffering "aircraft failure." He did note that his back hurt.

"Ma'am, a military jet crashed. I'm the pilot. We need to get rescue rolling," the pilot said on the 911 call. "I'm not sure where the airplane is. It would have crash-landed somewhere. I ejected."

The pilot tried to clarify, saying, "Ma'am, I'm a pilot in the military aircraft and I ejected. So I just rode a parachute down to the ground. Can you please send an ambulance?"

Joint Base Charleston later confirmed that the pilot was taken to a nearby medical attention and remains in stable condition.

Authorities discovered the remains of the jet on Monday following a 24-hour search about two hours away from the air base. An investigation into the incident is still in progress.

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