"Malfunction" hits F-35B fighter jet as aircraft forced into emergency landing on HMS Prince of Wales Japan op
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Mechanical problems forced a fighter jet linked to the Royal Navy flagship to conduct an emergency landing.
An F-35B fighter aircraft had to take a diversion to a civilian airport in Japan, the country’s defence ministry confirmed. Flying exercises were being conducted from the UK Carrier Strike Group (UKCSG) on a major deployment to the Indo-Pacific, headed up by HMS Prince of Wales.
As reported in the Daily Telegraph yesterday (August 10), the warplane was diverted to Kagoshima International Airport at around 11.30am local time. “The aircraft landed at Kagoshima Airport due to a malfunction,” Japan’s defence ministry said.
The fighter jet was conducting a sortie from HMS Prince of Wales on Operation Highmast. A sortie involves an aircraft moving from a defensive position to an offensive one, with such practice drills gearing up pilots for manoeuvres they may be asked to conduct against adversaries.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the F-35B has an “engineering issue” and is undergoing further inspections so it can return to the UKCSG as soon as possible. This diversion forced the airport to close its runway for roughly 20 minutes. The aircraft was moved to a taxiway for various checks to be carried out.
Footage at 2pm local time showed the fighter jet parked near the runway, with no visible damage. This is the second fighter jet to run into difficulties on the eight-month deployment, with one plane having to make an emergency landing at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport in Kerala, India, on June 14.
An “engineering issue” was discovered after monsoon weather conditions forced the crew to land the aircraft, originally a precaution on safety grounds. A team of UK-based engineers had to be flown in for repairs to be made. The F-35 finally left the Indian airport over a month after the problem occurred, with the Kerala tourism board poking fun at the situation by making a poster with a quote above the stranded plane which said “I don’t want to leave”. HMS Prince of Wales is currently making her way to Tokyo for a high-profile port visit, and planned military exercises.