The pilot of a £100million F-35 fighter jet says he had just seconds to react as he ejected from the plane moments before it crashed just after taking off from a Royal Navy warship. The pilot, known as Hux, spoke to the BBC after the accident on November 2021 and his story is now being told as part of the series The Warship: Tour of Duty.
Hux spoke to the film crew after being rescued, detailing how the jet lost power as he took off. He said: "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."
He ejected from the plane and was parachuting back down into the path of the warship. He managed to make it onto the deck 'by a few feet'. An investigation found that the sudden loss of power was probably caused by a cover mistakenly left on a jet intake.
