US Navy joins search for missing Japan F-35A pilot

TOKYO — The U.S. Navy joined the search for a missing Japan Air Self-Defense Force pilot whose F-35A Lightning II stealth fighter went down Tuesday in the Pacific Ocean.

The JASDF said on Wednesday a search team found parts of the aircraft left and right rudders in the water around 9:45 p.m. Tuesday.

A Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and the USS Stethem, a guided-missile destroyer, joined the Japanese-led search for the pilot, according to a Navy news release Wednesday. A JASDF spokesman described the pilot as a major in his 40s.

This is the first accident involving an F-35A anywhere, Asahi Shimbun reported. A Marine Corps F-35B fighter jet crashed near the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort, S.C., in September.

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