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 defense official told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The incident on Tuesday marks the latest mishap to mar the deployment of the Truman, which has been essential in the airstrike campaign by the United States against Yemen's Houthi rebels.
On Tuesday, U.S. 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.
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Meanwhile, the Houthis continue to assess the damage after daytime Israeli airstrikes targeted Yemen's rebel-held capital of Sanaa.
Landing goes wrong on carrier
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 authorized to speak publicly about the incident now under investigation.
"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.
The two pilots on board were later rescued by a helicopter and suffered minor injuries in the incident, the official added. No one on the flight deck was hurt.
CNN first reported on the incident.
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Tuesday's incident was the latest to see the Navy lose an F/A-18, which cost about $60 million. In April, another F/A-18 fighter jet slipped off the hangar deck of the Truman and fell into the Red Sea. 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 airstrike campaign. It had been joined recently by the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier operating out of the Arabian Sea.
