A video leaked this weekend and posted on social media shows the accident with a US Armed Forces F-35C that took place on the 24th in the South China Sea. In the images, the fighter tries to land, collides with the deck and runs down the runway of an aircraft carrier in flames before falling into the water.
The US Navy confirmed the authenticity of the video to CNN, not without criticism of the disclosure. “There is an ongoing investigation into both the accident and the unauthorized leak of deck camera footage,” a spokesman for the corporation told US TV.
The images appear to be, in fact, the footage of a device that reproduces the recordings. An expert heard by CNN highlighted that it is customary for aircraft carriers to record all landings made on the vessel, for possible later analysis.
This is the second leak linked to the crash of the fighter. Three days after the episode, an alleged photo of the plane at sea had also been released on social media. The case became one of the most popular Google searches in the US at the time.
Seven people were injured at the time: the pilot of the aircraft, who ejected his seat before the crash, and six servicemen who were aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson. The American forces did not officially inform the cause of the accident and announced an operation to rescue the plane from the sea, without detailing how, when and exactly where it would take place.
The biggest fear was that the F-35C — high-tech fighter jets, in operation since 2019, valued at US$ 100 million (R$ 530 million) — would be recovered by forces from another country.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said just days after the crash that Beijing had “no interest” in the plane. “We advise the US to contribute more to peace and stability in the region, rather than showing strength at every turn. [do mar do Sul da China]”, he added.
This is the second accident with this type of aircraft in just three months. In November last year, a British F-35 crashed into the Mediterranean Sea during a routine operation and was later recovered.
The South China Sea is one of the epicenters of geopolitical tension in the world, a favorite place for Washington and Beijing for naval exercises and periodic demonstrations of force since at least 2020, when the Americans classified most Chinese claims at sea as illegal.
Slightly larger than India, the area is the main maritime corridor for the flow of Chinese exports, and is also disputed by other nations, such as Vietnam and the Philippines. This traffic is regulated by a 1982 United Nations convention, which the Hague court says is violated by China.
Beijing laid claim to around 85% of the area of ​​the sea, claiming that a series of islands, atolls, reefs and sandbars were part of its territory, thus extending the right it has over the waters.
To ensure this, since 2014 it has installed military bases in the region, sometimes on artificial islands built on atolls.
