(FreedomBeacon.com)- An F-35 fighter pilot who attempted to take off from a Royal Navy ship but failed had described the terrifying moment he managed to leave the plane just before it crashed into the water.
Hux, the unidentified pilot, was inside the £120million Lightning II cockpit when it crashed on the HMS Queen Elizabeth’s runway.
In November 2021, the aircraft was seen on camera speeding toward the ship’s ski-jump ramp.
Seconds before the jet crashed into the Mediterranean Sea near Egypt’s shore, Hux ejected safely into the air. The ejector seat goes off when the plane goes over the edge, and the footage shows the resulting explosion.
Hux, stationed with the RAF’s 617th Squadron, had minor injuries, including wounds on his neck.
His ejector seat, which he claimed was the quickest in the world, sprang into action, launching him into the air.
When his chute released, he looked down at the water, and then “a second later, I could see the flight deck of the ship beginning to materialize underneath me.”
Despite being just a few feet from the carrier’s edge, Hux could fall upon it safely.
According to The Times, he may have been dragged beneath the ship if he hadn’t hit the target.
Shortly after the event, Hux was interviewed by the team of the BBC documentary series The Warship: Tour of Duty, which was shot aboard the HMS Queen Elizabeth.
Eventually, the F-35’s remains were plucked from a mile below the ocean’s surface in a delicate operation involving the United States, Britain, and Italy.
Sometime later, a soldier was taken into custody for leaking film of the top-secret operation.
It wasn’t until ten months later that investigators determined that crew members had failed to remove a rain cover, which had been the cause of the catastrophe.
According to the findings, “human, organizational, and procedural issues” were to blame.
