Navy Loses Fighter Jets After Incidents on USS Harry S. Truman
A Navy fighter jet ended up in the Red Sea on Tuesday in the latest mishap involving the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier.
The loss represented the second time in the past 10 days that a fighter assigned to the Truman ended up in the sea.
The two pilots aboard the F/A-18E Super Hornet suffered minor injuries, according to CBS.
An official CBS did not name said the Super Hornet was trying to land “when an arrestment failed, causing the aircraft to go overboard.”
The term arrestment refers to the mechanism designed to slow down a carrier-based plane. That includes a cable to catch a hook that dangles from the fighter jet.
“Both aviators safely ejected and were rescued by a helicopter assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 11,” the official said.
“The aviators were evaluated by medical personnel and assessed to have minor injuries. No flight deck personnel were injured.”
Sean Parnell, a Pentagon representative, said in a statement that the plane “was not struck by the Houthis.”
On April 28, a Super Hornet being towed in the hangar bay of the aircraft carrier went overboard.
Officials said that the incident took place when the Yemen-based Houthi rebels fired at the ship and it was taking evasive action.
The tow tractor and plane both went into the sea. One sailor was injured.
In addition to the two F/A 18 planes lost through mishaps, an F/A 18 was shot down by mistake in December when the USS Gettysburg downed it.
Both of the plane’s crew members ejected from the plane in that incident.
The U.S. military lost another F-18 Super Hornet in the Red Sea after a failed landing aboard the USS Harry S. Truman, marking the carrier’s second lost jet in just over a week. Both crew members ejected safely. pic.twitter.com/5wEDagCqIb
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) May 7, 2025
In February, the Truman collided with a merchant vessel near the Suez Canal.
An individual F/A-18 fighter jet costs between $60 million and $70 million, depending on the configuration, according to Military.com.
Neither jet lost through accidents has been recovered, according to the Washington Times.
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