USA: Leaked video goes viral – American fighter jet crashes into aircraft carrier
Created: 2022-02-08 10:39 p.m
By: Bedrettin Bölükbasi
A US F-35 crashed while attempting to land on the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier in the South China Sea.
© Colin Boyle/picture alliance/dpa
A US fighter jet crashed while attempting to land on an aircraft carrier in the South China Sea.
A leaked video now showed the moment of the crash.
Munich - There has long been tension between the United States and China in the South China Sea over Chinese encroachments on the democratically self-governing Taiwan.
Beijing is insisting on reunification with the island nation, while Washington is providing the government in Taipei with diplomatic and military support.
Due to the tense situation, US troops including aircraft carriers and fighter jets are in the South China Sea.
While the focus of attention in the area is a showdown with Chinese units, recently troops aboard the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier were shocked when, in late January, an F-35 fighter jet crashed into the ship's deck on approach for landing and eventually burst into flames sea crashed.
A video has now surfaced that shows the incident in more detail.
US fighter jet crashes into aircraft carrier - previously criticized for high costs and technical deficits
Developed jointly by several countries including the US, UK, Netherlands and Canada, the fifth-generation stealth aircraft, valued at around $100 million, has previously been criticized several times for deficits and high costs.
Even Adam Smith, the head of the Senate Defense Committee, targeted the F-35 program because of the aircraft's high ongoing operating costs.
The program is throwing money out the window, he said in March 2021. The plane is often characterized as the “Ferrari of the skies”.
It is said that flying regular missions such as air patrols with this jet is simply too expensive.
Technical difficulties and development problems also mentioned by Pentagon reports led to significant delays in further tests of the plane.
Although many deficits have already been remedied, more are still emerging.
The incident in the South China Sea does not necessarily make it easier for the fighter jet.
Of course, accidents can always happen - after all, the F-35 is not the only fighter jet that has crashed.
But due to reports of technical problems, such incidents cast additional doubts on the plane and open the door to further criticism.
American F-35 fighter jet crashes into South China Sea - warnings come too late
An F-35C operating in the South China Sea on January 24, as usual, wanted to land on its base after the flight - the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier.
Apparently, this did not go according to plan and a few things went wrong: the fighter plane crashed on landing and fell into the sea.
Footage from two different cameras on the USS Carl Vinson has now been leaked, shedding more light on the incident and going viral.
The videos show the fighter jet approaching too quickly, crashing onto the deck, sliding across the runway and crashing into the sea in flames.
Seven soldiers, including the pilot, were injured in the accident.
Warnings to the pilots of the F-35C can also be heard.
In the background of the recordings, a frantic voice sounds, telling him to abort the landing and try another approach instead, but too late: the plane crashes just seconds later.
Apparently, the pilot was able to free himself from the plane in time thanks to the ejection seat.
According to the recordings, crew members intervened immediately after the crash and sprayed foam onto the deck to prevent a major fire and further damage.
As CNN reported, citing officers, only superficial damage was done to the aircraft carrier.
In addition, it is now being investigated how the recordings of the incident came to the public, US officials told CNN.
US Army wants to quickly recover F-35 from the sea - before China gets the wrong idea
The US Army is now working at full speed to recover the plane from the sea.
Exactly where the incident occurred and why the crash happened has not yet been announced, but it is a priority for Washington to first get the plane out of the South China Sea before Beijing could consider the wreck to grab.
After all, it is a sophisticated technology that the US would be reluctant to see in Chinese hands.
However, China has already denied this.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said it was aware of the crash but had "no interest" in the US fighter jet.
(bb)