The base’s firefighting tenders had been placed on standby for the salute prior to the stealth fighter’s arrival, and had been called to assist in an emergency involving an F-16 Viper earlier in the day. They then forgot to change back to water for the F-35 arrival ceremony.

Right on time, the jet appeared at Leeuwarden Air Base at 3:30pm local time and landed shortly after flying a quick lap around the site, only to be rather unceremoniously coated in caustic foam upon touching down.