Leaked Video Shows Moment Fighter Plane Crashes Into Aircraft Carrier

This is the moment a US Navy fighter jet crashed into an aircraft carrier and skidded into the sea:

The leaked video shows the F-35 stealth plane as it skidded into the South China Sea and now, military officials are investigating how the clip surfaced.

Claimed to be genuine, the footage shows the jet coming in to land but hitting the flight deck instead. Luckily, the pilot had been ejected moments before the incident took place.

According to reports, the pilot and a number of navy sailors aboard the USS Carl Vinson were injured.

Another video shows the computer monitor displaying footage of the accident, clearly depicting the panic as it approaches the carrier.

Audio can be heard descending into panic as the Landing Signal Officer tells the pilot on board to 'pull up'.

According to CNN, the $100 million (£73m) fighter jet was the newest in the US Navy fleet and the damage to the carrier was only superficial with normal operations resumed.

However, the Navy faced the task of pulling the plane from the ocean floor following the incident, which took place on 24 January.

A picture on Twitter showed the aircraft in the water shortly after the crash took place.

Spokesperson for the US 7th Fleet, Lt. Nicholas Lingo, told CNN: "The US Navy is making recovery operations arrangements for the F-35C aircraft involved in the mishap aboard USS Carl Vinson."

Mr Lingo went on to confirm to the MailOnline that the videos and image of the crash were real but he added that the incident is still under investigation.

He told the publication: "The ship has assessed that the video covered by media today was taken onboard USS CARL VINSON (CVN 70) during the crash. There is an ongoing investigation of the incident."

It is believed there could have been a race to remove the jet from the sea with China also potentially looking for it.

Carl Schuster, a former director of operations at the US Pacific Command's Joint Intelligence Center in Hawaii explained to CNN: "China will try to locate and survey it thoroughly using submarines and one of its deep diving submersibles.

"Salvaging the plane with commercial and coast guard assets will enable Beijing to claim it is recovering a potential environmental hazard or foreign military equipment from its territorial waters."