{"id":97921,"date":"2023-09-18T20:48:10","date_gmt":"2023-09-18T20:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/turbocelebrity.com\/?p=97921"},"modified":"2023-09-18T20:48:10","modified_gmt":"2023-09-18T20:48:10","slug":"how-ghost-jets-flew-without-pilots-landed-in-one-piecefrom-cornfield-bomber-to-soviet-mig-that-came-down-in-belgium-the-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/turbocelebrity.com\/world-news\/how-ghost-jets-flew-without-pilots-landed-in-one-piecefrom-cornfield-bomber-to-soviet-mig-that-came-down-in-belgium-the-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"How ghost jets flew without pilots & LANDED in one piece\u2026from \u2018Cornfield Bomber\u2019 to Soviet MiG that came down in Belgium | The Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"
A MISSING US Air Force F-35 jet continued to fly in a "zombie state"<\/strong> after its pilot ejected in a mysterious "mishap". <\/p>\n As the search continued for \u00a365million warplane, history reveals other military jets have flown pilotless for long distances and even landed in one piece.<\/p>\n The "ghost" F-35 went missing over South Carolina on Sunday afternoon and the US military is desperately scrambling it.<\/p>\n The pilot safely ejected following the unknown error but the plane – reportedly left in a "zombie" state on autopilot – continued to fly on.<\/p>\n The strange incident mirrors the infamous cases of both the US "Cornfield Bomber" in 1970 and the Soviet "Ghost MiG" that crash landed in Belgium in 1989.<\/p>\n Both jets experienced faults that caused their pilot to eject, but bizarrely both managed to regain altitude and fly on for miles unmanned.<\/p>\n In the "Cornfield Bomber" case in 1970, a US F-106 miraculously recovered from a violent spinning nosedive and later landed itself safely with very little damage.<\/p>\n And in 1989, a Soviet MiG-23 caused pandemonium when it flew pilotless over 600miles, crossing the Iron Curtain and into Nato air space before crashing into a home in Belgium.<\/p>\n However, the state of the missing F-35B was unknown as the search area was narrowed to two lakes north of Charleston.<\/p>\n Officials have called on the public to help find the missing Lightning II fighter jet, which was reportedly left in stealth mode on autopilot prior the ejection.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n In this kind of "zombie" state, F-35s can fly for prolonged periods depending on their fuel state.<\/p>\n Emergency efforts to locate the jet have been further hampered by the sensors, systems and airframe used on F-35Bs that enable it to be undetected by enemies.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the warplane's transponder – which is usually used to locate the aircraft – is not working "for some reason that we haven't determined", a spokesperson at Joint Base Charleston told\u00a0The Washington Post.<\/p>\n F-35s are some of the world's most expensive and advanced fighter jets – known for their stealth, speed and aerodynamic body.<\/p>\n The US military is currently investigating what led to the "mishap".<\/p>\n On February 2, 1970, Lieutenant\u00a0Gary Foust and his wingman took off for a training exercise near Boston in a F-106 Delta Dart.<\/p>\n As he competed with his opponent in the training game, they came close to crashing and as Foust attempted to avoid the collision, the plane entered a high-speed roll.<\/p>\n Stuck in the spin and plummeting to the ground, the pilot ejected at 8,000ft.<\/p>\n "After I ejected, the airplane immediately went completely nosedown and recovered from the spin," he later told the National Museum of the US Air Force.<\/p>\n In a scene that shocked the US Air Force, the aircraft carried on flying for miles and miraculously made a gentle landing on its belly in a snowy Montana field.<\/p>\n Foust explained that there was only "minor damage" and the plane was quickly repaired and made operational.<\/p>\n The lieutenant\u00a0even went onto fly the same F-106 again during an exercise nine years later.<\/p>\n A Soviet 1970s-era MiG-23 took off from Bagicz Air Base near Ko\u0142obrzeg, Poland on July 4, 1989.<\/p>\n The fearsome aircraft was on a routine training flight when the Colonel Nikolai Skuridin experienced a sudden engine issue and lost power.<\/p>\n The plane began to nosedive and the pilot ejected after being convinced the MiG-23 would crash.<\/p>\n In fact, the colonel never saw the plane go down as instead it continued to fly and even gained altitude before cruising on autopilot.<\/p>\n It flew in a straight line westwards, leaving Soviet Bloc Poland and crossing the Iron Curtain into Nato airspace above West Germany.<\/p>\n Two US F-15 jets scrambled to intercept, and reported that the ghostly plane was unmanned and missing its canopy.<\/p>\n It crossed Dutch air space and into Belgium, while the pair of F-15s were instructed to shoot it down when it reached the North Sea to avoid any casualties or damage.<\/p>\n However, after flying over 600 miles the pilotless MiG ran out of fuel before it reached the coast.<\/p>\n It fell from the sky and slammed down into a house near Kortrijk, near the French border.<\/p>\n Pictures showed the jet remarkably intact after the crash landing, which killed 18-year-old student Wim Delaere as he slept.<\/p>\n The rogue jet's incursion had caused alarm in Nato, but Soviet chiefs refused to explain what had happened.<\/p>\n
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