A Royal Navy F-35B Lightning II stealth fighter diverted from the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales and made an emergency landing at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport on 14 June after reporting low fuel in bad weather over the Arabian Sea. The Indian Air Force, which had pre-designated the civilian field as an emergency recovery strip, cleared the $110 million jet to land and the airport declared an alert to ensure a safe touchdown. Post-landing inspections revealed a hydraulic fault that has prevented the fifth-generation aircraft from taking off again. Initial attempts by carrier personnel to fix the problem failed, leaving the fighter parked on the apron for more than three weeks and inspiring a stream of social-media memes and even a tongue-in-cheek tourism campaign by Kerala’s authorities. On 6 July a Royal Air Force Airbus A400M arrived with about two dozen engineers, specialist tools and spares. The team, working with Indian officials, towed the jet into the Air India Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul hangar at the airport. The British High Commission said repairs are under way and thanked Indian authorities for their "continued support and collaboration." Engineers will decide in the coming days whether the aircraft can be returned to airworthiness in situ or will need to be partially dismantled and loaded aboard a RAF C-17 Globemaster III transport for shipment back to the United Kingdom. Indian officials told the Associated Press they hope the fighter could fly home as early as next week if on-site repairs succeed. The prolonged grounding has highlighted wider sustainment challenges for the UK’s £11 billion F-35 fleet. A recent National Audit Office report found the jets are fully mission-capable only about a third of the time because of shortages of engineers, spare parts and higher-than-expected corrosion during maritime operations.