Washington, May 8 – A U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet fell into the Red Sea on Tuesday while attempting to land aboard the USS Harry S. Truman, marking the second such incident involving the aircraft carrier in just over a week, U.S. officials said.
The two aviators on board the aircraft ejected safely and sustained only minor injuries, a defense official confirmed. They were rescued by a helicopter from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 11. The $67 million aircraft remains unrecovered. “The aircraft was attempting to land when a maneuver failed, causing it to go overboard,” the official told CBS News, a partner of the BBC.
The incident comes eight days after another Super Hornet was lost from the Truman when a tow operation in the hangar bay went awry, dragging both the jet and a tow tractor into the sea. A sailor was injured in that incident, which is also under investigation.
In Tuesday’s mishap, officials cited a failure in the arresting gear system—a series of cables used to rapidly decelerate jets during carrier landings. The jet may have gone overboard as the carrier executed a sharp turn to evade potential threats from Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militants, the officials added.
The aircraft carrier has faced multiple operational challenges during its Red Sea deployment. In December, the USS Gettysburg, operating with the Truman strike group, accidentally shot down a friendly Super Hornet. The crew survived.
The latest accident came hours before U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington would pause strikes against the Houthis if they halted attacks on commercial shipping in the region. The U.S. Navy has launched an investigation into the circumstances of the second overboard incident.
