One of those broken cables snapping around the deck can be beyond lethal. Very dangerous place to be, not only for the pilot.
There has been at least one case where a snapped cable cut a sailor in two.
Cables are supposed to be changed after no more than 100 traps.
There would be an investigation on this. Likely questions would be:
How many traps were on that cable?
Was the checklist followed on installing the cable? Checklist documentation required.
Disclosure statement: I have never been on a carrier that was in service, I have never been in the US Navy. I am an engineer who has worked in chemical plants and refineries, and have been involved in root cause analysis after serious safety incidents. The focus is not so much who to blame (although in the Navy this could be career limiting for some), but more how to avoid this from happening again.
Thank you, God!