A military pilot has described how he was forced to eject from a £100million fighter jet as it took off from the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth.
In November 2021 the warship was conducting flying operations in the Mediterranean Sea, but one of its F-35 fighter jets failed to become airborne, instead tipping off the edge of the ship and crashing into the sea.
The pilot, known as Hux, spoke about his experience as part of the BBC‘s documentary The Warship: Tour of Duty, which followed HMS Queen Elizabeth’s eight-month maiden voyage to the Pacific Ocean and back.
READ MORE: Britain’s biggest ever warship HMS Queen Elizabeth arrives home in STUNNING pictures
Hux explained that the jet lost acceleration while taking off, saying: “I tried for emergency power – that didn’t work, then I tried to slap on the brakes – that didn’t work either… so I kind of knew it was going to roll off the ship.”
(Image: BBC)
The pilot’s life was saved by his ejector seat, and he was able to parachute back down onto the deck of the aircraft carrier, avoiding the consequences of landing in the sea in front 65,000-ton vessel, which included being dragged underneath it.
An official investigation concluded the sudden loss of power on take-off was probably caused by a cover being left on one of the aircraft’s jet intakes.
The aircraft – the most advanced stealth fighter in the world which is operated jointly in the UK by the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force – was later successfully recovered from the sea bed to ensure it did not fall into the wrong hands.
(Image: @SkyNews/Twitter)
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The documentary also reveals how the Royal Navy’s flagship was harassed by Russian aircraft and how it played a risky game of hide-and-seek with the Chinese navy.
The programme also tells the story of life on board during one of the Royal Navy’s longest deployments during the Covid pandemic, where at the height of the outbreak around 400 sailors, more than a quarter of the crew, were in isolation.
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