A 40-member team of experts from the UK will arrive here on Saturday to assess the hydraulic snag that has forced an F-35B fighter jet of the British Royal Navy to be grounded at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport since June 14.
A spokesperson for the British high commission in New Delhi had last week said an aircraft-towing equipment would be brought in (from the UK) to move the aircraft safely into Air India’s hangar.
“We have been told that they (the UK team) will first inspect the F-35B. It will then take a call on shifting it to Air India’s hangar at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport,” a top airport source told The Telegraph.
“If the team of experts is unable to resolve the hydraulic snag, it will make a decision on how to take the stealth fighter back to the UK.”
The F-35B, part of the HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group, had held sorties 100 nautical miles off the Kerala coast during joint exercises with the Indian armed forces in the second week of June.
It was forced into an emergency landing at Thiruvananthapuram. After a hydraulic snag was identified, a technical team from a British frigate tried unsuccessfully to rectify it.
Trolls, memes
The stranded flight has inspired much trolling and memes.
A fortnight ago, a Keralite prankster put it up for sale on OLX for $4 million, giving the owner’s name as Donaldu Trumpan.
The Kerala tourism department too used the jet for a piece of tongue-in-cheek marketing. It came out with a post on Wednesday saying: “Kerala, the destination you’ll never want to leave.”
Purporting to speak on behalf of the F-35B, it said: “Kerala is so beautiful, I didn’t feel like leaving!”
The Kerala Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd, or Milma, used the stranded jet to advertise its drink, Jooy.
“Let’s fix this with a little ‘Jooy’ from here. After all, who doesn’t need a cool break?” it said, putting out a picture purportedly showing the F-35B’s pilot sipping Jooy next to the jet.
