Somehow "ditch one for the Gipper" doesn't inspire me. Yeah, I know: accidents happen, but WHY the CVN-76?
I understand that there are usually multiple fatalities among the crew in a carrier battle group, particularly on the carrier and among the crew and flight operations folks, during every deployment. I've seen several accounts about one of the standard parts of being a CAG is to write several letters about lost servicemen during any deployment and that's part of why the job is so hard.
It ain't a safe profession, regardless of all that we've learned. They are "going in harms way" even without an active enemy in the field.
It's part of carrier aviation. You do lose planes fairly regularly, and you can't expect a carrier not to have losses. At least in this case, the pilot is OK.
Service on any warship has risk. Pilots on carriers have one of the most dangerous jobs at all.
Do you know how many successful launches and recoveries they've made before this incident? Get a grip.