And the British newspaper “Daily Mail” reported, on Wednesday, that investigators in the crash of the F-35 fighter jet in the Mediterranean, believe that the cause of the accident is due to the failure to take off the cheap rain covers properly from the plane.
Officials believe that the stealth plane’s engine pulled a rain cover during takeoff from the aircraft carrier “Queen Elizabeth”, which led to the engine failure, forcing the pilot shortly after takeoff to eject his plane.
British naval personnel reported that they saw the cover floating above the sea surface near the giant aircraft carrier shortly after the accident, which occurred last week.
According to RAF sources, the pilot realized there was a problem with his plane and tried to solve it when he was about to take off from the aircraft carrier, but failed to do so.
And the British newspaper “The Sun” says that the British Navy realized the problem “almost immediately”, because the rules for removing covers before takeoff are very strict.
The irony of the accident is that the plane, which costs more than 130 million dollars, crashed due to a cover whose price did not exceed hundreds of dollars at the latest.
The pilot narrowly escaped the accident, but was slightly injured and was rescued by helicopter.
Britain, the United States and Italy are working to try to recover the wreckage of the plane, which is believed to be more than 1.5 kilometers below sea level.
Western countries fear that Russia will seek to obtain the wreckage of the plane, which is located below the surface of the Mediterranean in international waters, which will lead to revealing the secrets of the most advanced aircraft in the world.
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