"Lost" F-35B Mishap Pilot Identity Revealed (and He's Been Fired by the Commandant)

What is this about?

All of these DEI incidents.

Goes to show, You are only doing people a disservice if You given them entirely too much rope beyond their ability.

USAF is known to be "No Mistakes" but the Marines are clearly becoming the same.

How are any of these people going to handle the stress and messiness of actual combat in near-pear total war?

A pilot who participated in an aircraft mishap is too valuable a lesson to not retain their status, because they survived and learned and can teach others that lesson. Where have I got that vibe before?

Is it viable for any pilot to do short stints of flight, using those backup instruments?

It would be interesting to see if they could spool up the scenario faced by this pilot in a simulator and see how other experienced F-35 pilots could handle it. Obviously don't give them advanced warning of the circumstances, just feed it into a "normal" training cycle and see if they can recover from the situation or if they eject.

What are the chances that the report writers would be pressured to find pilot error rather than a problem with the F-35?

Would they deem that it was "flyable" because the computers could maintain flight but a human in those circumstances couldn't?

Is it easier to sacrifice a CO's career over a program that has had so many question marks over it for such an extended period?

I have always been brought up to ask questions and am curious about delving deeper into this investigation rather than assuming conspiracies etc.

The few.

Great info again, Ward! Thanks you sir!

All good, Mooch. Just to reiterate, I follow and LOVE your podcast for THE LATEST INFO available. Proud you're my "go-to" source for military info! PJ.

I think the title of this segment should be (as stated by you) (...and He's Been Relieved by the Commandant). Narragansett Bay

Write a script, read the script, edit the script, reread the script. Make the video while sticking to the script.

During my career (74-94), if a pilot lost a plane, he/she never flew for the Navy again. End of story.

'You serve at the pleasure of the Commandant'
Well maybe.
But when the Commandant seems to be behaving inconsistently at serious cost to his people & their families -
it all seems very arbitrary & unfair .... Small surprise the Millitary is have Recruitment & Retention problems eh?

Thanks again Ward. I saw the 1st episode about a day after you did it and a couple hours later saw other sources with the name and VMX-1 command info, so this clears all that up. A question though. You said there was no fire at the crash site bc zero fuel. Also plane flew 11 min after ejection. I don't recall you and Hoser discussing a low fuel state being an issue on the approach. If he punched out 30 seconds after the missed approach he only had time for 1 or 2 trys and not much for even a short divert. Certainly was well below 30 min minimums. Did I miss something?

As an old Soldier, I fail to understand why spouse and family are mentioned in such reports. We are called, we serve, and we (family included) endure the sacrifices entailed. This is the successful American military culture.

Thanks Ward, excellent reporting as always!

Gettin rid of Scout Snipers, getting rid of tanks, getting rid of other assets (certain arty units and making flying squadrons smaller) to include possibly losing MARSOC, now reliving this commander over what, nothing? WTF is going on with these Commandants lately? Smh, I am starting to think these guys are losing their f’ing minds.

While I appreciate someone correcting their mistake....skipping the majority of what he was supposed to be reading as a redaction and clarification of what ACTUALLY happened. He skipped most of what he should have read and seemed to studder through the entire video to a point I could barely understand what he was saying. He can give his "likes/loves" to everyone that told him good job for "owning up to it". Which would be admirable if he actual did it properly. Lost more credibility with me not for being wrong but for given a half @ss redaction. Make your intentions clear. unsub

question.... in just about any possible situation, there are checklists to run.... I assume he did just that? and whatever checklist he followed, 'eject' was the final solution? I assume all of this has already been detailed in the investigation, since that is finished, and I assume he didnt just lose his spatial awareness, and just unilaterally decide to eject from a flyable and controllable aircraft...

this was a little hard for me to follow. so Col Del Pisa was only recently ID'ed publicly as the mishap pilot, which caused the Commandant to believe he should not be CO VMX-1? because it didn't look good, or because it was realized that the Col might have handled the emergency better? or because of his age and mishap involvement meant he shouldn't be in a fighter cockpit anymore? thanks, Ward, u da Best, amigo

Ward, this is my initial view of your channel, excellent video! Thank you for the straight scoop.

You miss the Marine Times with reference to the FNAEB as opposed to the JAGMAN saying the decision to eject was justified. “Del Pizzo pointed to the mishap investigation’s conclusion that he conducted the flight using the proper procedures and was not derelict in his duty. He also said a Field Flight Performance Board was convened to review the incident and concluded his decision to eject was justified.” - this is a big deal as such is completely contrary to the JAGMAN. Such contradicts notions of ‘Pilot Error,’ and really shows the CMC’s call here to be not only micromanaged, also to be rather questionable. Now, we should also look at this in context of the Eglin, Hill, and SCS crashes as all involved mode issues and all were in approach, arrival, and/or landing. This pilot should have been aware of these three crashes at the time of his ejection. All three involved aircraft not responding as expected. Probably a good time to look into Sidney Dekker’s work too.

Recap the accident?

Rush to judgement, and the misguided pressure of SM gurus expected to make a quick 'take' on EVERY situation, leads to inaccurate reporting, and damage to the reputations of those falsely labeled as 'liable'. OAN, few pilots casually eject from a jet without a darned good reason. It's a dangerous operation.....

Funny you have no problem raking the Marines through fire, but nothing on your site about the F-18 that went down in Washington.

Something really SMELLS!

What was the mishap?

Id resign my commission on the spot. Screw you Navy: dont want your pilots jumping out of your billion dollar jets, dont force them to fly broken fat amy crap! Cant wait to see real men take control our forces!

Can you imagine being an Air Wing Commander and hearing online that you’ve been fired... “Oh that’s news to me” 😂

The Comma damt was right…you cam’t have a guilty party the CO of the T&E squadron of the USMC.

Pilot's debrief must have been less than complementary of the aircraft's characteristics in his debrief. Can't have that.

Fired?!

Question: Does the F35 have mechanical analog backup instruments, or is it all glass for primary secondary and emergency backup? I find it hard to believe the entire system is electronic, if so then there is no way for the pilot to fly IMC if the all electronics went down.

I know this man and he was a fine aviator. The data showed he did everyone right.

I'm only getting up to speed, your vids don't always pop up... the pilot got sacked about a year after the incident and from what I heard, he got "disoriented" and punched out. My thoughts are regardless of what happened after, protecting his own life was top priority so if he was not sure where he or the ground was, sounds like an appropriate decision.

"Offered orders of my choice."

I know what he means, but that's still a funny statement, getting to choose your orders.

I heard 1 1/2 year. Is not that a normal tour of duty for a non combatant squadron? Some duty station in other warfare are even shorter or about the shortest.

Well the commandant isn’t an aviator and this sets a very fucking bad precedent.

Great hat, a couple nice Gibson's and a killer Marshall amp/stack in your background. As always really enjoy your content. Very educational and enlightening!

"A class act" - ages since I heard that term. Memories of Budney.... As a former Republican I've been pining for this lost concept.

Is the Commandant of the Marine Corps an aviator?

Ward looks like you have mighty fine guitars and amps behind you . Could you give us a listen to your guitar playing ? Thank You .

He's a experienced pilot that thought he should eject. No one wants to eject. He could have died in that plane. Sure expensive plane, but he was there and the decision makers weren't. Glad he lived and we can always build another plane. That's what we do.

You kinda rambled through that. I'm more confused than ever.

Well done. Thanks for keeping the record straight!

This is going to cause future pilots to die in crashes. To be cleared then to be fired as he takes command show leadership at the top is failing.

Good information, assuming it is not false as the previous one apparently was. But it was 3 minutes of info mixed with 7 minutes of hemming and hawing. Be prepared with conclusions next time so you don’t waste everyone’s time.

It's not surprising they don't use these in combat

If the pilot already has 27 years of military duty, perhaps it's time to take a job as golf pro.