An excerpt from Boris Johnson’s upcoming memoir reveals that the Queen personally informed him of a crash involving an RAF F-35 fighter jet.
During one of their regular audiences, Johnson writes that the Queen was the one to tell him that the jet had fallen into the sea while operating from Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth.
In a surprising twist, Johnson notes that the Queen was often very well-briefed, sometimes even before he was.
“Sometimes she even seemed to know things before I had been briefed,” he writes. He recalls how she informed him of the incident, saying, “It was she who broke it to me that a very expensive RAF F-35 fighter plane had blown a gasket and dropped off its aircraft carrier and into the drink because someone had left a plastic tray over the air intake.” Johnson adds, “Doubly embarrassing to hear it from the Queen.”
The crash in question occurred in November 2021, when an RAF F-35B Lightning II jet operating from HMS Queen Elizabeth crashed into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after takeoff. The aircraft was part of the UK’s cutting-edge fleet, designed for stealth operations and equipped with advanced technology. Fortunately, the pilot was able to eject safely and was rescued shortly after the incident.
The UK Defence Journal and other outlets reported extensively on the crash at the time, noting that it marked the first loss of an F-35 jet from the UK’s fleet. The incident raised concerns over operational safety and procedures aboard the carrier, particularly regarding the cause, which was later revealed to be a plastic rain cover accidentally left on the aircraft’s intake during takeoff.
The recovery operation to retrieve the jet, valued at around £100 million, was a high-profile event that involved significant international cooperation.
pilot was very lucky to survive the incident.
dreadful negligence might have cost a life
Hi Andy the thing is which level do you put the negligence at ? The member of the ground crew who didn’t remove it, the pilot who must have missed it in his pre flight inspection, the lack of a simple visible system of accounting ? Or do you step back and blame the moron that thought gapping our carrier capability for 10 years and expect it all to magically restart ? We had 96 years of continuous Carrier experience and 67 of operating jets, in both we were the 1st and foremost and the most innovative by a mile.… Read more »
Always use the whys approach to get to the root, keep asking why until you get to a sensible level..then make changes at every level to help prevent the whys happening again.
Totally agree with you I’m amazed the argies didn’t take advantage of the lack of carriers
Not sure how they would have or could have. Till very recently, their air force was pretty much the same types are the 1980s, with high levels of inoperability. And their Navy was in a poor state – their destroyer sank in port, and much of the rest is in a materially poor state. They were also still flying the Super Etendards, just without a carrier…
In short, they had nothing left to try it with, except literally landing a Jumbo and rushing troops out…
If memory serves correct, present on the Falklands are the RAF with Typhoons, a battery of Sky Sabre SAMs and a Royal Navy Frigate and Attack Submarine.
Even if Argentina had what it did in 1982, they wouldn’t be able to stand up to that, they wouldn’t get anywhere near the islands.
I disagree. If the argenine air force all took off together the 4 ? Typhoons would be swamped. One frigate with how many ssm’s ?against a fair few ships !!
You cant take the islands with an air force alone… building up an invasion force and logistics takes time so hopefully satellites or intelligence gives some warning. Extra troops and typhoons could deploy quickly…an ssn would take longer but with a bit of warning would make a ship based invasion very costly
A frigate is only rarely there as a visiting warship. An OPV is based at Mare Harbour.
Attack sub – haha – no, not based there and I think never visited. I doubt they ever patrol in the South Atlantic.
Don’t forget the Infantry Company!! The army also man those SkySabres, not the RAF.
👍
Totally agree.
Didn’t it start with Brown protecting Scottish shipyard jobs with a contract that was undoable, although it probably started with those dozens of admirals who had dreams of RN domination of the seas and a carried fleet. Never mind we’re down to a handful of destroyers and not many more frigates. Almost forgot the carrier protection, fo course, that’s what the aforementioned fleet is for.
That an important point. Rebuilding a capability is very costly, things need to be learned again.
Very funny. Boris discovers the Queen knew more than him.
Probably Doris @ No 10 hadn’t bothered reading the briefing!
Who’d have thunk it?
It does seem wrong that our system of politics allowed such an incompetent individual into high office.it’s not even like he was a competent or good journalist before he went into politics…and I don’t really consider journalism a high demand profession……maybe we should be stress testing our politicians before letting them near office…if you’ve not show competence in a demanding field your not fit for high office….I have no problem with anyone being a voted in representative…but any office if state should have a competence level attachment. After all the conservative government seemed to produce a string of less that… Read more »
And now we have a human rights lawyer running the country. Who only became an MP in 2015. Great..
Britain’s standards for who should be their number one national leader have fallen dramatically, just like in America. I can’t imagine any citizen of these countries going to sleep every night feeling somone is in charge and accountable for their safety and the well being of the country. Feels like we’ve all accepted pure mediocrity from our leaders. Heads in the sand hoping it’ll be ok in the end.
The QI of a country tends towards of its journalists.
Well Duffields letter called him out perfectly!
…and who never ran a Government department due to his late start in politics.
Again check out David Cameron
Unfortunately this is no centrist Blair government but one that is quite far right with a good dose of class war rhetoric.
Starmer has shown appalling judgment so far.
Zero charisma or comms ability.
Amazing what happens when you have a political system that doesn’t make a detailed manifesto and it’s analysis centre stage.
My concern is that Starmer lasts the next four years and doesn’t get replaced by a hard leftist.
The reason for that concern is defence.
Cameron became PM after only 9 years as an MP and had spent most of his life working for the Tory party before being involved with TV company Carlton.
I think the ruling classes think Eton is the ideal stress testing. Anyway they learnt their lesson and Tory faithful made sure they never let such an incompetent idiot into Number 10 again… well for more than a few weeks anyway.
I suspect Larry knew more mate.
Yes, it would be purrrrfectly checked and he would sleep on it.
Expense mistake
Her late Majesty was no fool. I imagine this was one of the few times she divulged what she knew. particularly to someone like Mr Johnson.
Well at least she knew about the Military well beyond throwing Airfix models from his dorm window when Nanny wasn’t looking.
When you see the shape and depth of the F35 intake up close. It’s easy to see how a blanking cap could be missed. The S curve is very steep, (for stealth) and the intake itself is pretty narrow. The new blanking caps now attach external to the airframe, greatly reducing the chances on one disappearing down the intake. Plus, many other procedures will have been put in place. It’s a tough lesson learned. But nothing is easy about carrier aviation.
Aren’t those things bright orange?!
The question you need to ask is why this did not happened to the much more numerous and more active US Marines F-35B?
The Italians F-35B also, albeit less numbers than RN.
Note those two countries are operating F35B alongside Harriers so they did not had a hiatus in capability, so there has no been the cost that could have been very well a human cost of rebuilding a capability.
I know it’s Johnson, so probably better he was kept out of the loop for as long as possible, even when the alternative was a 90 something great grandmother, but a bit concerning that the monarch hears before the guy who actually has to make decisions in the defence and response of this Country. Let’s hope if war breaks out it’s not Charlie who gets to hear first as he is in the greenhouse soothing the stress of his delphiniums, or worst still don’t dare ask him to inform the PM until he has had his morning paper properly ironed.
The Monarch is the head of the armed forces as well as the head of state.
I thought it was the pilots duty and responsibility to check around the aircraft before take off. It is not the pilot-in-command of an aircraft who is directly responsible and is the final authority as to the safe operation of the aircraft.
The Queen took her role very seriously, unlike Bojo.
Yet again Boris reveals details of his private conversations with the late Queen. Disgraceful conduct.