A state-of-the-art British F-35B fighter jet, which has been stuck at Thiruvananthapuram airport in the southern state of Kerala, India, for over five weeks, is finally set to fly out on Tuesday. The aircraft, which was part of the fleet of the HMS Prince of Wales, was diverted to Thiruvananthapuram airport after it ran into bad weather during a sortie in the Indian Ocean and developed a technical snag.
According to an airport spokesman, the F-35B is due to be “pulled back from the hangar today and the departure is scheduled for Tuesday.” However, he added that “we do not have any technical details” regarding the repair. Engineers from the Royal Navy’s flagship carrier had visited the aircraft to fix it, but were unable to repair it. A team of 14 engineers was later deployed to Thiruvananthapuram airport to assess and repair the F-35B aircraft.
Videos showed the F-35B being towed away to a hangar for repairs. There had been speculation that if the technicians failed to repair the aircraft, it would have to be dismantled and carried out in a bigger cargo plane. However, on Monday, an airport official told the BBC that “the aircraft is confirmed to be airworthy” and is scheduled to be pulled out of the hangar on Monday morning.
The exact time of its departure and other details, such as which airport will be used for refueling on the way to London or when the backup aircraft will arrive to transport the technicians and equipment back, are yet to be communicated. The F-35B’s prolonged presence in India sparked curiosity and raised questions about how such a modern aircraft could remain stranded in a foreign country for so long.
The case of the stranded $110m (£80m) jet was also raised in the House of Commons, and images of the “lonely F-35B” parked on the tarmac and soaked by the Kerala monsoon rains made it a subject of jokes and memes. Many suggested that the jet did not want to leave the scenic state of Kerala, described as “God’s own country” in tourism brochures. The F-35B is a highly advanced stealth jet built by Lockheed Martin, prized for its short take-off and vertical landing capability.