£100M F-35 stuck in Kerala: After five weeks, stranded UK fighter jet to leave India tomorrow

N

EW DELHI: A British F-35B Lightning II fighter jet that was grounded at Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram airport since 14 June is set to fly out on Tuesday, officials have confirmed. A joint team of aviation engineers from the UK and the US, including personnel from the British Royal Navy and Lockheed Martin, carried out extensive repairs after identifying a fault in the aircraft's hydraulic system. Despite an initial round of maintenance, the issue could not be resolved until a second team of 14 experts arrived earlier this month.

The aircraft — part of the UK’s HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group — had made an unscheduled landing while returning from joint maritime exercises with the Indian Navy in the Indo-Pacific. Final clearance for take-off came from the UK following a detailed technical report from the engineering team.The plane is in the hangar of the Thiruvananthapuram airport. This is the first time an F35 plane got stranded in country.