A Marine Corps F-35B currently deployed on the British Aircraft Carrier Queen Elizabeth was forced to conduct an emergency landing in Ibiza, Spain, on Monday.
The plane was diverted as part of a “precautionary measure,” Royal Navy Lt. Cmd. Laura Thorburn told Marine Corps Times.
“The pilot and aircraft are safe and will be recovered to HMS Queen Elizabeth in due course,” Thorburn, a spokeswoman for the Royal Navy, said in a Tuesday email.
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The F-35B and Marine pilot are assigned to VMFA-211, known as the Wake Island Avengers, which deployed from its home base on Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona.
The squadron joined the Queen Elizabeth in late April as part of a multinational carrier strike group that includes roughly half a dozen British ships, the Dutch frigate Evertsen and the U.S. guided missile destroyer the Sullivans.
The 28-week deployment is scheduled to bring troops through the Mediterranean Sea and Pacific Ocean, where the Marines and multinational sailors plan on working with close allies, like the Republic of Korea, Japan and likely other U.S. Marines deployed on a Marine Expeditionary Unit.
The U.S. Marine Corps has not yet responded to questions from Marine Corps Times about the incident.
