British Navy’s F-35 fighter jet leaves Thiruvananthapuram airport after remaining grounded for over a month

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The British Navy’s F-35B fighter jet, which had remained grounded at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport for over a month following a fault in the hydraulic system, finally took off from the airport on Tuesday. The fighter jet had made an emergency landing at the airport on June 14.

The British Navy aircraft is a part of the UK Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales. The fighter jet was out on a routine sortie when it developed a snag and could not land on the ship. The plane reached the Thiruvananthapuram airport, which was designated as the emergency recovery airfield, and requested emergency landing permission. The Indian Air Force provided all required support and assisted in the process, including refuelling.

#WATCH | Kerala: The British Navy’s F-35 fighter aircraft, which made an emergency landing at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport on June 14, takes off from the airport. pic.twitter.com/RT9vlsL73W

— ANI (@ANI) July 22, 2025

A technical team from the UK Royal Air Force had arrived to repair it, and the 5th-generation stealth fighter aircraft was parked at the Bay in the airport for many days. It was later moved to the Air India hangar, where a team from the UK was brought in to repair the fighter jet.

The F-35Bs are highly advanced stealth jets, built by Lockheed Martin, and are prized for their short take-off and vertical landing capability. Images of the ‘lonely F-35B’, parked on the tarmac and soaked by the Kerala monsoon rains, spawned memes on social media.

The Kerala Tourism Department was the first to share an image of the aircraft on social media X with a humorous caption, “Kerala, the destination you’ll never want to leave”, and this was quickly followed by similar posts from Milma (Kerala’s dairy cooperative), the Kerala Police, the State AIDS Control Society, and several private organisations. (ANI)