Military officials have confirmed the discovery of debris from the Marine Corps’ missing F-35B aircraft, which had been involved in what was officially termed “a mishap.” Parts of the aircraft were located in Williamsburg County, South Carolina, approximately two hours north of Joint Base Charleston.
The F-35B Lightning II stealth fighter jet, valued at around $80 million, went missing, prompting a search operation and concerns about its whereabouts.
While the news of the discovery was made public, videos started circulating online claiming to show wreckage from the missing F-35B in South Carolina.
The Claim
On September 19, 2023, a user on X (formerly Twitter), @DrChrisCombs, posted a video that appeared to show the wreckage of a plane crash. The accompanying tweet stated: “WOW first videos leaking of the F-35 debris field in Williamsburg County South Carolina outside Charleston.”
The Facts
The pilot aboard the missing F-35B had ejected safely and was transported to a local medical center in stable condition, according to Joint Base Charleston.
However, it’s essential to clarify that the video shared on X is not related to the recent F-35B crash. Instead, the footage was recorded over a year ago in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and was posted on YouTube on March 8, 2022.
This discrepancy was uncovered through reverse image searches, which led to multiple Ukrainian blog posts and news reports from the time. Sergey Bolvinov, head of the Investigative Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, posted several photos of the crash on Facebook on March 7, 2022, attributing it to an enemy aircraft of the Russian Federation’s armed forces. The crash occurred at various locations, including the Kharkiv State Aviation Production Enterprise and the Kommunar Tractor Factory.
The aircraft involved in the Kharkiv crash was identified as a Russian Sukhoi Su-25 assault aircraft. Additional photos were taken by photographer Sergey Bobok and published via Getty Images, showing Anatoly Yaremenko, director of the State Scientific Production Enterprise Kommunar Corporation, visiting the crash site.
In summary, the video footage circulating on social media was captured in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and is unrelated to the missing F-35B in South Carolina. The recovery efforts for the F-35B in South Carolina are ongoing, with the assistance of local authorities and the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort. Community members are advised to avoid the area as the recovery team secures the debris field, and incident command is transferred to the U.S. Marine Corps for the recovery process.