Lost secrets

U.S. Navy Has Stopped Looking For Japan's Crashed F-35 That Remains Largely Unrecovered

The U.S. Navy says it has concluded its support of search and recovery efforts related to a Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-35A Joint Strike Fighter that crashed off the coast of that country last month. The Japanese are continuing to look for parts of the plane, including its flight data recorder, as well as the pilot, who remains missing.

The Navy's 7th Fleet made the announcement on May 8, 2019. At that time, the service's only assets aid in the search and recovery operation were a salvage team on board a chartered deep sea construction vessel, Ultra Deep Solutions'Van Gogh. Between Apr. 9, 2019, when the F-35A first went missing, and Apr. 17, 2019, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Stethem and a pair of P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft had also contributed to the search efforts, collectively covering a total area of more than 5,000 square nautical miles. A U.S. Air Force U-2 Dragon Lady spy plane had also conducted at least one sortie over the area and it is not clear if that service is still assisting with the search and recovery missions.