F-35B Fighter Leaves Kerala Airport After Being Stranded For 5 Weeks
The British Royal Navy's F-35B fighter jet, which had been stranded in Kerala for over a month after making an emergency landing, flew out of the Thiruvananthapuram airport this morning. The stealth jet had been grounded in Kerala due to a hydraulic fault that took an expert team from the UK to repair.
The fighter received a green signal yesterday, allowing it to return to the skies after five weeks. Visuals this morning showed the aircraft taking off from the Thiruvananthapuram airport.
"A UK F-35B aircraft, which landed following an emergency diversion on June 14, departed today from Thiruvananthapuram International Airport. A UK engineering team, deployed since July 6, completed the repairs and safety checks, allowing the aircraft to resume active service," said a British High Commission spokesperson, expressing gratitude to Indian authorities and airport teams.
The fifth-generation stealth fighter is part of the UK's HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group, which has been operating in the Indo-Pacific and recently finished joint maritime exercises with the Indian Navy.
The jet was flying from the UK to Australia on June 14 when it developed a snag and was forced to take a detour to Kerala. Facing low fuel levels and adverse weather, the pilot had opted for an emergency landing at the nearest airport. Indian Air Force came to the rescue of the troubled jet; they facilitated its landing in Thiruvananthapuram and provided logistical support.
Over the next few weeks, UK officials made several efforts to take the fighter jet back to its home country. At one point, British technicians even considered transporting the jet in a C-17 Globemaster military transport aircraft.
On July 6, the F-35B was towed to a hangar for repair. Special equipment also had to be flown in to move it to the hangar since India doesn't operate any F-35s. A massive team of 24 technical experts and crew members from the Royal Air Force arrived with equipment to repair the fighter jet.
The jet incurred a hefty bill during its stay in India, including landing and daily parking charges. The F-35B was charged a daily parking fee of over Rs 26,000, which summed up to over Rs 9 lakh for its 35-day stay in Kerala, according to the Economic Times.
The fighter jet's India stay also sparked massive curiosity among the locals and memes on social media. Kerala Tourism shared a photo of the aircraft with the caption, "Kerala, the destination you'll never want to leave."
Designed by Lockheed Martin, the F-35B is among the world's most expensive fighter jet programmes in history. It has three variants - A, B, C. The B variant, used by the UK Royal Navy, is capable of short take-offs and vertical landings, which allows it to take off from aircraft carriers without catapult systems
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