On Tuesday, the same day that the White House announced a truce with Yemen’s Houthi rebels, another F/A-18 fighter went over the side of the carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea. It is the second lost overboard and the third lost overall since the supercarrier deployed to waters off Yemen.
The fighter came in for a landing and touched down, but the arresting cable system failed and the aircraft went over the side, an unnamed official told CNN and AP. Two pilots ejected successfully, and they were rescued by one of the carrier’s helicopters. They sustained minor injuries but survived. No injuries were reported aboard the carrier. The Navy has not officially confirmed the accident, and it was not immediately clear whether it occurred before or after President Donald Trump’s announcement of a ceasefire in the Red Sea on Tuesday.
Last month, an F/A-18 fighter rolled over the side from Truman’s hangar deck elevator while it was being moved, along with the tractor that was towing it. Truman was turning hard to avoid an incoming Houthi threat, and the sudden maneuver was enough to send the unsecured aircraft overboard. One crewmember sustained slight injuries but none were killed or pulled over the side in the incident.
In December, one of Truman’s escorts – the cruiser USS Gettysburg – accidentally shot down one of the carrier’s F/A-18 fighters with an anti-aircraft missile. The friendly fire mishap occurred after an engagement with inbound Houthi drones and missiles, and Gettysburg appears to have mistaken the airborne fighter for a threat.
Truman and USS Carl Vinson were engaged in “round-the-clock” operations against Houthi targets from March 15 through May 6, when the campaign ended with a ceasefire that the White House described as a “capitulation.” Truman has had her deployment extended twice, and was scheduled to head home at last sometime next week.
The Navy often acts to recover the wreckage of intact fighter aircraft from the bottom after a mishap in order to prevent foreign intelligence-gathering efforts. Wreck recovery efforts in the contested waterway have not yet been announced; if the ceasefire holds, the unarmed subsea construction vessels that are often used for these deepwater salvage projects could access the area without risk of Houthi attack.
