A British F-35 fighter jet has crashed into the sea during a routine operation in the Mediterranean, the Ministry of Defence has said.
The pilot ejected and has safely returned to the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and an investigation has begun, the MoD added.
paul mcallister wrote:Some UK media reports suggesting some sort of " red plastic cover " was not removed before flight, and the aircraft came down shortly after take-off.
JLAmber wrote:It appears to be confirmed that the rain cover used to stop the radar absorbent coating from becoming waterlogged was indeed left in position. Quite how that happened is anyone's guess
paul mcallister wrote:Strange how the video is recorded from a monitor, could be fake I suppose, quality isn`t great ie extreme glare which is a bit suspect for a new state of the art ship.
The UK has recovered the F-35 stealth fighter that crashed off an aircraft carrier into the sea
Shanwickoceanic wrote:Probably some idiot didn't have permission to share this officially, and this is as good as they could get. Given that you need to sign the Official Secrets Act even to work in the McDonald's on a naval base, I imagine they'll be lucky to get away with just a P45.
The UK Defense Journal, citing an unnamed source, reported Tuesday that a service member aboard the carrier has been arrested for the video leak.
paul mcallister wrote:The BBC are saying the aircraft has been recovered? Located maybe, but I don`t think any sort of recovery has begun as yet.
Anyone else know anything about a recovery operation? Doubtless the Chinese would love a look.
paul mcallister wrote:The US Navy also had a recent " mishap " with one of their F-35C`s in the South China Sea.
https://news.usni.org/2022/01/31/japan- ... operations