Thiruvananthapuram: The British Navy's F-35 fighter aircraft, which made an emergency landing at the Thiruvananthapuram airport on June 14, took off after 37 days. The £100 million British F-35B Lightning II fighter jet was grounded at the airport in Kerala due to a hydraulic system fault.
The aircraft was part of the UK Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales. According to reports, the fighter jet was on out on a routine sortie when it developed a snag and could not land on the ship.
The plane then reached the Thiruvananthapuram airport, which was designated as the emergency recovery airfield. It then requested emergency landing permission.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) provided all required support and assisted in the process, including in refuelling. A technical team of the UK Royal Air Force had also arrived to repair it and the 5th generation stealth fighter aircraft was parked at the Bay in the airport. It was later moved to Air India hanger where a team from the UK were brought to repair the fighter jet.
Initial repair attempts by the carrier’s technical team proved unsuccessful. It wasn’t until a joint UK-US team, including Royal Navy technicians and Lockheed Martin personnel, arrived that the snag was fully resolved. Initially, reports also surfaced that the fifth generation stealth aircraft would be dismantled and its parts would be taken back by a transport plane.
Notably, F-35Bs are highly advanced stealth jets, built by Lockheed Martin, and are known for their short take-off and vertical landing capability.
