British stealth jet stays parked in Kerala days after emergency landing

A Royal Navy helicopter flew into Kerala earlier this week and unsuccessfully attempted to fix the aircraft that some experts said possibly developed a hydraulic system failure.

A British fighter jet that made an emergency landing at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport in Kerala almost a week ago continues to be parked there, as of Friday.

 

The fifth-generation stealth F-35 Lightning II, part of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy, was based on the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales before it encountered bad weather or a technical issue during a sortie on June 14. The fighter jet failed to land on the deck of the warship and diverted towards Kerala with help from the Indian Air Force (IAF).

 

While the peacetime stranding of a foreign fighter jet is rare in India, the F-35 -- a military asset of a foreign country with which India has strategic relations -- was being guarded by the Central Industrial Security Force, the agency responsible for security at Indian airports.

 

Western diplomatic sources in New Delhi told Business Standard that the UK government and the Royal Navy were working to repair and recover the aircraft and send it back to HMS Prince of Wales, with the support of Indian authorities.

 

A Royal Navy helicopter flew into Kerala earlier this week and unsuccessfully attempted to fix the aircraft which, according to experts, possibly developed a hydraulic system failure.

 

India can offer fuel and logistical help, but it cannot provide repair services for F-35s, which are made by the US company Lockheed Martin. It is unclear what the UK government plans on doing next. International protocols require repairing or airlifting military jets stranded overseas.   

 

But defence analysts are of the view that too much should not be read into it. 

 

Although infrequent, such incidents can occur with even the most advanced aircraft, Air Marshal Anil Khosla (retired) said. 

 

“The diversionary airbase is chosen depending on the type of unserviceability. Some critical ones require immediate landing at the closest base. In such cases, the rectification party, with trained manpower, tools, testers and spares, is sent for repairs (like the Royal Navy helicopter). Sometimes, the repair is beyond local field-level capability, and assistance may be required from back home, which may take time,” Khosla said.

 

Indian aircraft have also occasionally faced delays abroad during UN missions, ferry flights, or exercises.

 

“There are established protocols -- diplomatic, technical and logistical -- to manage military aircraft stranded overseas,” Khosla added.

 

HMS Prince of Wales participated in a joint exercise of the British and Indian navies in the Arabian Sea over June 9-10. The UK Carrier Strike Group, led by this warship, is currently deployed in the Indo-Pacific region on an eight-month Highmast operation. The emergency landing in Kerala was in accordance with the contingency plans between the British and Indian armed forces during the period. The warship’s location was not known at the time of the F-35’s diversion.

 

The IAF had earlier said that the UK fighter jet was undertaking routine flying outside the Indian air defence identification zone, with Thiruvananthapuram marked as the emergency recovery airfield.