Missing F-35 found dead after breakup with pilot
Suicide or murder? Investigators considering all possibilities
Robin Berger
September 20, 2023
The F-35 Lightning II was known to be highly emotional.
WILLIAMSBURG COUNTY, South Carolina — Search and Rescue crews confirmed the remains of an F-35 Lightning II fighter have been located after the most advanced airplane in the world either committed suicide or was murdered during a mid-flight breakup with its pilot, Marine Capt. Steven “Winwood” Wodnall, on August 17, 2023.
Wodnall and his F-35B Lightning II aircraft were on a tour of South Carolina’s romantic and mysterious Lowcountry region when an argument reportedly broke out between him and the aircraft’s artificial intelligence. Wodnall ejected from the stealth aircraft, which went missing for the better part of two days despite an $80 million dollar price tag that could have at least included a transponder or something.
Sources within Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 said Wodnall and the Lightning II had a troubled relationship history, with Wodnall breaking up with the Lightning at least once before. Even after counseling and mandatory retraining, “It just wasn’t working out for them,” said Wodnall’s wingman, Capt. Dane “Hair Trigger” Jacobsen. “Wodnall has been saying things like ‘she’s suffocating me’. He just really felt like he was out of control; not really in the pilot’s seat when they were together. Like the plane just has a mind of its own.“
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