Article originally appeared on www.washingtontimes.com.
A stunning 911 audiotape released late Thursday offered a window into the frantic minutes immediately after the crash of an F-35 fighter jet last Sunday, with the plane’s pilot and the homeowner whose yard he parachuted into pleading with emergency dispatchers to send help immediately.
The recording offers few details on exactly what led to the crash of the $100 million aircraft outside Charleston, South Carolina, or why the F-35 Lightning II continued flying long after the pilot ejected from the cockpit. But the 911 recording does provide insights into just how confusing and chaotic the situation seemed to be.
“I guess we’ve got a pilot in our house and he says he got ejected,” said a Charleston County resident, apparently the homeowner who found the Marine Corps pilot in his backyard.
“I’m sorry, what happened?” the 911 dispatcher said, according to the tape.
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