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British F-35 fighter jet still stranded in Kerala, engineers to fly from UK, US to fix problem

British F-35 fighter jet still stranded in Kerala, engineers to fly from UK, US to fix problem

F-35 fighter jet Photograph: (AFP)

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A larger team from the United Kingdom  and the US is now likely to come to Kerala and repair the technical snag.

It's been over a week since the British F-35 fighter jet that made an emergency landing at the Thiruvananthapuram airport in Kerala has failed to take off, as engineers of the aircraft have failed to fix the technical problem. They have not been successful in repairing the hydraulic problem due to which the jet could not take off.

There are now plans to move the plane parked in bay 4 of the airport to a hangar as the repair may take time amid engineers are being called from the UK and the US.

Though the jet has blocked a bay at the airport, authorities say "We have enough bays to handle commercial aircraft. The presence of fighter jet is not an issue," reported the Times of India.

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This is the first time that the US-made, fighter jet is stranded in a foreign country due to technical issues.

Operating from the United Kingdom’s aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales, the fighter jet was conducting a routine flying outside India’s Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) when it was diverted to Thiruvananthapuram, the designated emergency recovery airfield for the aircraft.

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Initially, the fighter jet was facing a problem of low fuel and the Indian Air Force provided all necessary help. But after it was readying for departure that the jet experienced problem with its hydraulics and therefore could not take off, reported India Today, citing air force officials.

A maintenance team was called from Britain to fix the issue but they could not resolve the problem. A larger team from the United Kingdom and the US is now likely to come to Kerala and repair the issue with the plane's hydraulic.


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Aditya Shukla

Aditya Shukla has a vast experience of over 20 years in the field of journalism. During the years, he has worked in TV and digital, covering Indian politics and world news extensiv...Read More

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