Bizarre 911 call released after fighter jet pilot ejects and lands in back garden: ‘I’m not sure where the plane is’
A recording has captured the bizarre emergency call made by a US military pilot after ejecting from his jet and landing in a resident’s back garden.
The unidentified pilot was flying over Charleston, South Carolina, in an F-35 fighter jet on 17 September when he ejected due to what he described as an “aircraft failure”.
He and the resident whose garden he landed in called 911 to request an ambulance because the pilot said he had injured his back.
Both can be heard trying to explain the situation to the operator several times.
Airmen from Joint Base Charleston walk down Old Georgetown Road. Pic: Henry Taylor/AP
“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 said in his second attempt.
The 47-year-old pilot, who said he parachuted down from around 2,000 feet, added: “Ma’am, a military jet crashed. I’m the pilot. We need to get rescue rolling.
“I’m not sure where the airplane is. It would have crash landed somewhere. I ejected.”
The pilot was eventually taken to hospital.
It took officials more than 24 hours to locate the jet, which had continued flying for 60 miles after the pilot ejected, until it crashed in a field in a rural part of Williamsburg County, about two hours northeast of a military base in Charleston.
Local law enforcement and military officers stand at checkpoints along Old Georgetown Road, Williamsburg County. Pic: Henry Taylor/AP
Residents were being asked to avoid the area while a recovery team worked to secure it.
The Marine Corps said the jet, which is worth an estimated $100 million (£81.64 million), may have continued its flight due to a safety feature “designed to save our pilots if they are incapacitated or lose situational awareness”.
They said that while it was unclear why the jet kept flying, flight control software would have worked to keep it steady if there were no longer a pilot’s hands on the controls.
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“If the jet is stable in level flight, the jet will attempt to stay there,” they said in a statement.
The marines added that it was due to good fortune that the jet avoided crashing into a densely populated area.
Footage emerged on social media of the plane flying over South Carolina before crashing – which led to questions as to why officials took so long to locate it.
The jet, the corps explained, also has features which erase the aircraft’s secure communications in case of an ejection – a feature designed to protect both the pilot’s location and the plane’s classified systems – but this may have complicated efforts to find it.
“Normally, aircraft are tracked via radar and transponder codes. Upon pilot ejection, the aircraft is designed to erase all secure communication.”
They said thunderstorms and low cloud ceilings further hampered the search.
The incident is still under investigation and results from an official review board could take several months.
Dozens of supporters were outside court as the man accused of fatally shooting the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare made his first appearance.
Luigi Mangione has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of murder following the 4 December killing of Brian Thompson, 50, outside a midtown Manhattan hotel.
The 26-year-old is accused of ambushing and shooting the executive as he walked to an investor conference.
Luigi Mangione supporters stand outside the Supreme Court. Pic: AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah
Dozens of people who showed up in court to support the suspect including former army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning who was jailed for stealing classified diplomatic cables.
Dozens more queued in the hallway.
Mangione is also facing federal charges that could carry the possibility of the death penalty.
The judge set a deadline of 9 April to submit pre-trial motions.
Luigi Mangione is accused of fatally shooting Brian Thompson. Pic: Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP
In addition to the New York cases, Mr Mangione also faces charges of forgery, carrying firearms without a licence, and other counts in Pennsylvania, where authorities arrested him at a McDonald’s.
Police say he was in possession of a gun, bullets, multiple fake IDs and a handwritten document that expressed “ill will” towards corporate America.
He is being held in a Brooklyn jail alongside several other high-profile defendants, including music mogul and rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, and disgraced crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried.
The killing prompted some to voice their resentment at US health insurers, with Mangione attracting a cult following.
A poll taken in the wake of the shooting showed most Americans believe health insurance profits and coverage denials were partly to blame for the incident.
Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have not “done anything” to end the Ukraine war, US President Donald Trump has said.
He called the French president a “friend of mine” and the UK leader a “nice guy” but said Russia had only agreed to negotiate “because of me”.
Mr Trump made the comments days before both leaders visit the White House for a meeting in which they must try to press Ukraine‘s case while keeping the US leader onside.
Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron in Paris: Pic: Number 10/Flickr
The president also continued his criticism of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying he had “no cards” to play.
“I’ve been watching for years, and I’ve been watching him negotiate with no cards. He has no cards. And you get sick of it. You just get sick of it. And I’ve had it,” he told a Fox radio show.
The comments come after he recently called the Ukrainian leader a “dictator without elections” – apparently in response to Mr Zelenskyy saying his US counterpart was living in a “disinformation space” after Mr Trump claimed Ukraine had started the war.
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Ukraine was also excluded from talks between the top US and Russian diplomats in Riyadh earlier this week.
They were intended to set the stage for future negotiations on ending the war, which started when Russia launched a full-scale invasion three years ago.
Speaking on Friday evening, Mr Trump denied speculation he could visit Moscow for talks on 9 May – the day Russia celebrates its victory over the Nazis.
President Trump speaks in the Oval Office on Friday. Pic: Reuters
Mr Trump also told reporters the Russian and Ukrainian leaders needed to “work together” to end the war.
However, the US has already dealt a huge blow to Kyiv’s position in any future talks.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that a return to pre-war borders was “unrealistic” and ruled out NATO membership as way to guarantee Kyiv’s security.
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President Zelenskyy has insisted he will not accept any deal that his country is not involved in.
Ukraine’s leader held talks with US envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv on Thursday, describing it later as a “good discussion”.
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Mr Kellogg struck a markedly different tone to President Trump when he called Mr Zelenskyy the “courageous leader of a nation at war”.
However, there are concerns over how much influence Mr Kellogg has, with a Ukrainian source saying there was a sense he had been sidelined.
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