SHANKUMUGHAM: The American-made British fighter jet, which was grounded at the Thiruvananthapuram airport for more than a month due to a technical fault, has left. The F-35 aircraft took off at 10.45 am on Tuesday after fixing the glitch.

The pilot was Captain Mark, the combat pilot who was with the 14-member technical team from Britain to fix the aircraft's technical fault. The plane did not have the fuel capacity to fly directly to the UK, so it went to Darwin, Australia. The British aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales is currently off the Australian coast.

The fighter jet had to land at Thiruvananthapuram airport on June 14 after it ran out of fuel while conducting a reconnaissance flight from a British aircraft carrier anchored 100 nautical miles off the Kerala coast. Although it was refuelled, it later developed a technical fault and remained grounded for days. The Delhi-based ground handling agency Bird Group will pay the rent of aircraft parking, hangar, and ATC (Air Traffic Control) services

Captain thanks everyone

The captain who arrived to fly the plane thanked India for the service provided after the fighter jet, which was parked in the parking bay, was cleared to fly at 9.30 am from the air traffic control tower. He saluted the staff who helped bring the plane to the hangar.

The British Royal Air Force's four-engine turboprop Airbus A400M Atlas aircraft, which brought technical experts to fix the fighter jet's malfunction, will arrive today to take them back.