Posted on 04/28/2025 9:11:09 PM PDT by NoLibZone
Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet has been “lost” at sea after it fell overboard from the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier while it was being towed on board, the Navy said in a statement on Monday.
A US official said that initial reports from the scene indicated that the Truman made a hard turn to evade Houthi fire, which contributed to the fighter jet falling overboard. The Houthi rebel group claimed on Monday to have launched a drone and missile attack on the aircraft carrier, which is in the Red Sea as part of the US military’s major anti-Houthi operation.
All personnel are accounted for, and one sailor sustained a minor injury.
“The F/A-18E was actively under tow in the hangar bay when the move crew lost control of the aircraft. The aircraft and tow tractor were lost overboard,” the statement said. “Sailors towing the aircraft took immediate action to move clear of the aircraft before it fell overboard. An investigation is underway.”
A second US official told CNN that the aircraft had sunk. An individual F/A-18 fighter jet costs more than $60 million, according to the Navy.
The Truman Carrier Strike Group is currently deployed in the Middle East and was in the Red Sea at the time of the incident. The Navy emphasized on Monday that the strike group and its air wing “remain fully mission capable.”
The Truman has repeatedly been targeted in attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen. It made headlines in February when it collided with a merchant ship near Egypt; no injuries were reported. Another F/A-18 from the Truman was also “mistakenly fired” upon and shot down by the USS Gettysburg in the Red Sea in December ; both pilots ejected safely. More here
DOH!
One solution. And is Musk working on a car/boat, too?
So we shot one of our own F-18s down, and now let one roll off the deck. Houthis can win via attrition at this rate.
Somebody is going to have to put off celebrating his next promotion. Might be the captain. Might be a chief petty officer.
Might be both.
Well, on April 30th it’ll be the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam war. Maybe some sailors watched some YouTube vids of the sailors back then pushing Huey’s off the carrier decks and thought it’d be fun to push a Hornet off the deck.
I don’t believe this for a minute. This is a cover story. Deck camera video please.....
I think the Truman just got a new skipper after the collision a few months ago. I wonder what her (the ship’s) nickname is. I recall the Forestall was nicknamed the ‘Forest Fire’ after the unfortunate fire there …
Someone’s annual officer evaluation isn’t gonna look so good this year.
Driver forgot to apply the brake.
I wonder how steep the turn was?
Yeah but the Hueys belonged to the Army.
So the Houthis sunk one of our planes. Next they’ll be shooting one of our subs out of the air.
How could the damned thing have NOT been secured to the deck?
Ouch! I wonder how much that accident costs.
That was certainly a hard evasive turn to create such a list.
The F18 was being moved by the plane tug at the time.
That won't show anything because it happened below deck. The carrier had to take evasive maneuvers and when it turned the F18 headed out the door with a tow vehical attached.
very been on a boat and the driver turned hard? You get thrown hard to the outside.
aircraft carriers aren't slow or slow to turn.
And when they do ,they tend to " lean" to the outside instead of the inside, so no only is centrifugal force pushing cargo outside, so is gravity.
Open door? Even worse.
be thankful no one got dragged out the door with the aircraft and tow vehicle.
I'll also bet more than a few sailors had to change their underwear after this, being the turn was hard enough to throw a plane out the door, how many sailors had to grab something to keep from being thrown too?
Icymi, planes below deck are wired down to the deck just as they are above deck when being parked.
Sub sailor here who has more than one scar from angles and dangles.
I guess that counts as a Houthi kill.
“Coulda sworn I parked right here. Hunh…oh well. “
“Dah, wherediditgo? Ah, wherediditgo? Have you seen my jet aeroplane?”
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