THE wreck of a £100million jet which crashed on take-off from a Royal Navy aircraft carrier has been dredged up from the seabed.
It came as a crewman onboard HMS Queen Elizabeth was arrested on suspicion of leaking sensational footage of the crash.
The F-35 Lightning plunged into mile-deep water in the eastern Mediterranean sparking a major international search mission last month.
Top brass feared the jet’s secret stealth technology could fall into Russian hands after it ditched on take-off three weeks ago from the Navy's flagship aircraft carrier.
Footage from a surveillance camera showed the pilot ejecting safely as the plane reached the end of the runway.
He was so close to the vessel that his parachute snagged on the side of the ship.
“Operations to recover the UK F-35 in the Mediterranean Sea have successfully concluded,” the MoD confirmed last night.
The US Navy scrambled a specialist deep salvage ship from its 6th Fleet HQ in Rota, Spain, to lead the search and recovery mission.
It took two weeks to locate the wreck and another week to bring it up, a defence source said.
The Italian Navy had also helped the salvage mission which was hampered by rough seas.
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