Thiruvananthapuram: The Royal Navy’s F-35B Lightning II stealth fighter jet, stranded at the Thiruvananthapuram airport since June 14, has extended its staycation in God’s Own Country by choice, if the latest advertisement of Kerala’s tourism department is to be believed.
The fifth-generation aircraft, considered among the top in its class in the world, has been the subject of memes over the last 18 days, with a netizen even offering to sell it on OLX for US$ 40 million. However, nobody could have guessed that it would actually be used in an advertisement campaign by the state’s tourism department.
The department has used an AI-generated image of the aircraft with palm trees in the background and posted: “Kerala, the destination you’ll never want to leave. #F35 #Trivandrum #KeralaTourism”.
The aircraft took off from the HMS Prince of Wales, which was participating in an exercise with the Indian Navy in the Arabian Sea, on June 14, but could not land back on the carrier due to bad weather. After circling the ship and jettisoning fuel, it placed a Mayday message to which the Indian Air Force (IAF) responded and guided it to Thiruvananthapuram, where it landed safely.
However, while preparing for take-off after being refuelled the next day, the pilots realised that there was some damage to the hydraulics. The Royal Navy sent in technicians and a replacement pilot but the snag proved to be too much for them to handle. After enduring monsoon rains for days, the British finally agreed to move it into a hangar that has repair facilities.
It has now been decided that a team of 40 experts, with a specialised tow vehicle will be flown in from the UK to carry out repairs.
While the fighter awaits the arrival of the experts and necessary equipment, people will certainly keep tabs on developments, thanks to Kerala Tourism’s lighthearted post.
