UK F-35 jet stuck in Kerala 'ready to fly' 5 weeks after technical snag

The UK's F-35B jet, which has been stuck in Kerala for more than five weeks, is set to fly on Tuesday. The state-of-the-art British fighter jet is due to be “pulled back from the hangar today, and the departure is scheduled for Tuesday”, an airport spokesman told the BBC. 

“We do not have any technical details,” he added. The F-35B jet landed at the Thiruvananthapuram airport on June 14. The aircraft was diverted after it ran into bad weather while conducting sorties in the Indian Ocean. The fighter jet then developed a technical snag, forcing it to remain stuck in Kerala.

The jet’s prolonged presence on Indian soil sparked curiosity and raised questions over how such a modern aircraft remained stranded in a foreign nation for so long. It is pertinent to note that the aircraft was part of the fleet of the HMS Prince of Wales.

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The F-35Bs are highly advanced stealth jets, built by Lockheed Martin, and are known for their short take-off and vertical landing capability. The case of the stranded $110m (£80m) jet was also raised in the House of Commons.

The struggle to get the fighter jet repaired

After the plane made an emergency landing in Kerala, engineers from the British Royal Navy’s flagship carrier visited India to fix the aircraft. However, they were unable to repair. Fortnight back, the UK Ministry of Defence issued a statement in which they noted that they had deployed a team of 14 engineers “to Thiruvananthapuram airport to assess and repair the F-35B aircraft”.

The team came to India with specialist equipment necessary for the movement and repair process, a statement said. Meanwhile, videos circulating online at the time showed the F-35B being towed away to a hangar.

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Some experts went on to claim that if the technicians failed to repair the aircraft, the fighter jet would have to be dismantled and carried out in a bigger cargo plane, such as a C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft. According to the BBC, the UK High Commission in India and the British Defence Ministry maintained that they would not share details of repairs.

However, things changed on Monday when airport officials told the BBC that “the aircraft is confirmed to be airworthy”. As per the report, the F-35B fighter jet is scheduled to be pulled out on Monday, and the exact time of its departure is “yet to be communicated”. The timings will also depend on which airport will be used for refuelling on the way to London or when the backup aircraft will arrive to transport the technicians and equipment back".