U.S. likely to Salvage F-35C from South China Sea Crash Fearful of China Accessing It: Report

The United States is likely to salvage the remains of the F-35C jet that crashed aboard the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier last month in the South China Sea on January 24.

A report by Navy Times predicted that the service could salvage the $100 million jet.  Maritime salvage warnings for a northern portion of the South China Sea have been issued in recent weeks, and the sea service is expected to raise the fallen jet, which is full of technology that would be of high interest to Beijing, the report said.

A 51-second leaked video of the incident shows the jet’s rear erupting into flames as it hits the deck and slides the length of the carrier before dropping into the sea. Naval Air Forces officials confirmed “that there has been an unauthorized release of video footage from flight deck cameras” aboard Vinson.

“There is an ongoing investigation into both the crash and the unauthorized release of the shipboard video footage,” Cmdr. Zachary Harrell said in a statement.