American Fighter Jet Sends Distress Signal During Flight and Disappears from Radars

The American fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II fighter jet sent a distress signal during a flight over Japan and soon disappeared from radars, reports Life.ru, referencing the SHOT Telegram channel. According to the source, this concerns the F-35A variant.

During the flight, the aircraft transmitted the 7700 code, which is used to notify of an emergency situation aboard and requires an immediate response from air traffic management and emergency response units. Shortly after, the aircraft vanished from radar systems. The exact cause of the incident has not yet been determined.

Reports of a possible crash are confirmed by data from Flightradar, which recorded the distress signal. There have been no official reports regarding the fate of the pilot or debris from the aircraft.

The F-35A is a variant of the fifth-generation multifunctional fighter, F-35 Lightning II. This model made its first flight in 2006 and was accepted into the U.S. Air Force inventory in 2016. The aircraft is designed to strike aerial and ground targets and can carry, among other things, B61-12 type nuclear munitions.