> How was it possibly missed?

Since you asked, here’s one idea:

- Did you notice the rain covers are present in the second photo in the article? I had to do a double-take because they’re very dark. I suspect they’re less obvious compared to other aircraft.

- Was the launch at night? If so, is the deck of this carrier appropriately lit wherever this plane was parked for inspection?

This is pure speculation. My point is you can have all the checklists in the world but bad design could contribute significantly to a process failure.

It sounds like this was a test flight of new equipment on a new carrier. I’d expect some design issues to be uncovered at this stage.