A F-35B Lightning II-Fighting plane of the British Navy made an emergency landing on Saturday morning (August 10) Kagoshima Airport In the city of Kirishima, Japan, local media report. There were no injuries and the airport operations have since resumed normally.
According to Kagoshima airport office, the aircraft landed shortly after 11.30 am local time, after the pilot had informed the control tower about a presumably mechanical problem. Images of Omroep NHK showed the device parked near the runway at 2 p.m., without visible damage.
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“The pilot had contacted air traffic control in advance, reported that he may have had a mechanical problem and wanted to perform an emergency landing,” said the airport office NHK.
After the landing, the runway was closed for approximately 20 minutes to move the F-35B to a taxi job and to perform safety checks. In total, six flights – both departing and coming – were delayed about 20 minutes.
It Japanese Ministry of Defense confirmed that it was a British naval aircraft from the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Walesthat is currently active in the Western Pacific as part of the Carrier Strike Group 25 (CSG25). “The device landed on Kagoshima Airport due to a malfunction,” said the ministry.
The HMS Prince of Wales and associated support ships are in the region for joint exercises with the Japanese self -defense power And the US Army. The exercises, part of Operation Highmastrun until 12 August and are intended to show the capacity of the United Kingdom to operate in the Indo-Pacific region together with allies.
Sources: Japanese Ministry of Defense | UK Defence Journal | X @royalairforce. This content was created with the help of AI and has been checked by the editors.
