A British F-35B stealth fighter jet that had been stranded for over a month in southern India finally took off Tuesday after successful repairs, officials said.
The $115 million jet, among the world’s most advanced, landed safely in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram airport on June 14 after hydraulic and power issues forced it to divert from its carrier, HMS Prince of Wales. A U.K. engineering team fixed the technical glitches.
The incident sparked a wave of memes and cartoons in India. One AI-generated image by Kerala Tourism featured the jet basking under coconut trees with a fake review: “Kerala is such an amazing place, I don’t want to leave.”
Tourism official K. Biju called it “good humor” and a nod to British tourists, Kerala’s largest inbound group.
The aircraft has now resumed its journey to a British carrier in Darwin, Australia.
Source: Agency