The UK-led Carrier Strike Group had recently conducted join exercises with the Indian Navy and Thiruvananthapuram airport was earmarked as the emergency recovery airfield for aircraft flying from the carrier. Once the pilot of the jet declared an emergency, the F35B was detected and identified by the Indian Airforce’s Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS) network and cleared for the recovery.
Local media suggested that bad weather around HMS Prince of Wales was the reason the jet had to divert. Monsoon season has come early and the Indian Ocean, particularly in the northern and equatorial regions is notorious for sudden squalls — brief, intense weather events involving strong winds, heavy rain, and sometimes thunderstorms. Predicting the weather in this area is especially challenging for the embarked meteorological teams.