Another US fighter jet falls into sea from Truman aircraft carrier, US officials say
An F/A-18 fighter jet landing on the USS Harry S Truman aircraft carrier in the Red Sea went overboard, forcing its two pilots to eject, a US defence official says.
The officials said the fighter jet failed to come to a proper halt after landing on the carrier.
Both members of the crew ejected before the jet plunged into the water and were recovered by a rescue helicopter, the official said.
The F/A-18 Super Hornet landed on the Truman after a flight, but "the arrestment failed," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorised to speak publicly about the incident.
"Arrestment" refers to the hook system used by aircraft landing on carriers, which catches steel wire ropes on the flight deck. It remains unclear what part of the system failed.
No one on the flight deck was hurt, according to the official.
Aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman.
(
AP: Darko Bandic
)
Tuesday's incident was the latest to see the Navy lose an F/A-18, which cost about $60 million.
In April,
Photo shows
an f/18 super hornet fighter jet sits on top of a us navy aircraft carrier ship
As sailors were towing the aircraft into place in the hangar bay of the USS Harry S Truman, they lost control and it went overboard.
The crew members who were in the pilot seat of the Super Hornet and on the small towing tractor both jumped away.
In December, the guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg mistakenly shot down an F/A-18 after ships earlier shot down multiple Houthi drones and an anti-ship cruise missile launched by the rebels. Both aviators in that incident also survived.
And in February, the Truman collided with a merchant vessel near Port Said, Egypt.
The Truman, based out of Norfolk, Virginia, has seen its deployment extended multiple times amid the Houthi air strike campaign. It had been joined recently by the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier operating out of the Arabian Sea.
The incident marks the latest mishap to mar the deployment of the Truman, which has been positioned in the Middle East as part of the air strike campaign by the United States against Yemen's Houthi rebels.
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump and Oman's foreign minister both said that a ceasefire had been reached with the Houthis, who would no longer target ships in the Red Sea corridor — something not immediately acknowledged by the rebels.
Meanwhile, the Houthis continue to assess the damage after daytime Israeli air strikes targeted Yemen's rebel-held capital of Sanaa.
Reuters/AP
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