Thiruvananthapuram, July 16 (IANS) A team of top aviation engineers from the US and the UK have finally managed to fix a technical issue that had left the British F-35B Lightning II fighter jet grounded at the airport here since June 14.

Consequent to rectifying its hydraulic systems, which failed and, despite a first round of repairs and maintenance, it failed to rev up, things changed after a team of engineers from the UK and another team from Lockheed Martin — the American manufacturer of the F-35 — arrived here early this month.

The problem with the stranded jet has now been fully rectified and is now waiting for instructions from the concerned authorities on its way forward.

According to information, the engineering team is waiting to hear from the British Royal Navy and once it comes, in all likelihood it will be airborne in the coming days.

Renowned for its short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) capabilities, the fifth-generation fighter — part of the UK’s HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group — was returning from joint maritime exercises with the Indian Navy in the Indo-Pacific when it was forced to land in Kerala’s capital city, last month.

Soon after it was stranded last month, a team of officials landed here and, despite the best efforts, the team was unable to get it back to fly out.

Eventually, a 14-member expert team was flown in by a special flight and the first task they accomplished was to move the stranded jet, which was lying in the open on one side of the airport terminal, to the hangar.

Then they decided to ensure that none of the prying eyes had any sight of the state-of-the-art fighter jet, and not only was the entire area cordoned off, but they also covered the area from all sides.

Another reason to cover up from all sides was that the technicians wanted a cool atmosphere, and the entire area is now air-conditioned, as the engineers are busy working on it.

The stranded jet also became a subject of discussion on social media and there were numerous trolls about it.

Interestingly, it was Kerala Tourism which made headlines when in a post on X, it shared a message: “Kerala, the destination you will never want to leave. Thank you, The Fauxy.”

The post featured a spoof “review” attributed to the UK jet, “Kerala is such an amazing place, I don’t want to leave. Definitely recommend.”

–IANS

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