Kochi: British aviation experts are struggling
to troubleshoot a snag in the sophisticated Lockheed Martin fighter jet F-35B of the Royal Air Force (RAF) stuck in Thiruvananthapuram airport in India for nearly three weeks, media reports said.
The aircraft landed at the Southern tip of the country’s airport in Kerala on June 14 after taking off from a British aircraft for a routine sortie due to technical snags.
Since then it has not able to return to
HMS Prince of Wales, the Royal Navy’s flagship carrier in the Indian Ocean.
Engineers from HMS Prince of Wales have assessed the aircraft, but have failed to fix it so far.
The aircraft is in the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul facility at the airport and will be moved to the hangar once UK engineering teams arrive with specialist equipment.
Authorities at Thiruvananthapuram airport told the BBC they were expecting technicians from the UK to arrive on Friday.
The $110m jet is under the protection of six officers from the RAF.
The Royal Navy had only two options of either getting it repaired or flying it out in a bigger cargo place such as a C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft.
The matter came up for discussion in the House of Commons with the opposition Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty seeking clarification from the government on the issue, the UK Defence Journal reported.
The stealth jets have short take-off facility and vertical landing capability.
Photo: X
