After spending nearly a month stranded at Thiruvananthapuram Airport in India, the Royal Air Force began repairs on the F-35B fighter jet that originally formed part of the carrier air wing of the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales during its deployment to the Indo-Pacific, sending for this purpose a group of 14 engineers, as reported. The aircraft has been in the southern region of Kerala since June 14, the date on which it suffered a technical issue that required its return to the aforementioned aircraft carrier, but due to bad weather, this resulted in an emergency landing on Indian territory.
It is worth noting at this point that during the more than three weeks the F-35B in question has been on the ground, a group of engineers from the Royal Navy’s flagship had already visited the airport to carry out the necessary repairs, which ultimately was not possible. Faced with this scenario, the British High Commission announced the previously mentioned deployment of a specialized team of 14 engineers from the United Kingdom, bringing with them tools and specific materials to be able to proceed with the repair and relocation of the aircraft.
In line with the latter, it is useful to highlight that the arrival of this new team of engineers will allow the fifth-generation stealth fighter to be moved to a hangar specially prepared for maintenance and repair tasks — a significant detail considering that it spent all these days exposed on the airport runways awaiting the necessary work, even under unfavorable weather conditions. Moreover, it is worth mentioning that on various occasions this meant that passengers from commercial flights were able to take photographs of it, while on local social media it became a topic of jokes due to the delay in the plane’s departure — something even humorously used by the Kerala tourism office.
Lastly, it is worth mentioning that in case this new team of engineers is unable to carry out the necessary repairs for the F-35B to take off on its own, it is expected that it will have to be dismantled and subsequently transported back to the United Kingdom aboard large cargo aircraft, which would likely be done with a C-17 Globemaster III. Until the situation ends up being resolved through one of the possible paths, the fighter will remain guarded by a detachment of six Royal Air Force personnel, who have been guarding it 24 hours a day since its landing in India.
*Image credits to whom it may concern
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