British fighter jet grounded in capital city leaves Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: British fighter jet F-35B grounded in Thiruvananthapuram Airport following a technical snag departed Tuesday morning. The flight took off after repairing the hydraulic flaw detected. The jet was brought out of the hangar yesterday after getting permission from the Navy Chief in Britain.

Permission was given to fly back after the rental of the aircraft in the parking bay, the rental of the hangar, and the rental of the ATC were completed. The F-35 made an emergency landing at the Thiruvananthapuram airport on June 14 after it ran out of fuel. The technical fault was noticed when it was refueled and prepared to continue its flight.

The fault was resolved after 24 members arrived from Britain. 14 of them are technical experts. Ten are crew members of the aircraft. The Indian Air Force provided all possible support to resolve the problem of the aircraft. The aircraft being grounded in Thiruvananthapuram was discussed in the British Parliament. The British army then decided to move the aircraft to the hangar and resolve the fault.

The army initially did not agree to moving the aircraft, which has a state-of-the-art and highly secure system, to a hangar in another country. No other country that is not part of the NATO alliance has received the American-made fifth-generation fighter aircraft. Therefore, the aircraft was not moved to the hangar due to concerns about technology leakage.