A United States Navy fighter jet and a tow tractor fell off an aircraft carrier and sank in the Red Sea on Monday after the crew lost control of the plane, the Navy said.
One sailor sustained minor injuries, the Navy said, adding that it would investigate the incident on the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman, which is operating in the Red Sea and helping to launch attacks against Houthi militias in Yemen. The F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet, which cost about $67 million, according to the Navy, was being towed in the hangar bay when crew members lost control.
The aircraft carrier was turning hard to better position itself against the threat of Houthi missiles and drones when the jet fell into the water, according to three Defense Department officials with knowledge of the incident. The maneuver was believed to be a contributing factor to the loss of the plane, but not necessarily the only reason it went overboard, the officials said.
A Houthi spokesman, Yahya Saree, said in a statement on Monday that the group had launched missiles and drones at the Truman.
“Sailors towing the aircraft took immediate action to move clear of the aircraft before it fell overboard,” the Navy said.
The Houthis have been attacking commercial and military ships in the Red Sea as a show of solidarity with the residents of Gaza and Hamas, the militant group that controls the enclave. President Trump ordered the U.S. military to begin an air campaign, called Operation Rough Rider, against the Houthis on March 15, following some strikes under the Biden administration.
American forces have hit more than 800 targets in Yemen during the campaign, according to the U.S. military.
The targets of those strikes included “multiple command-and-control facilities, air defense systems, advanced weapons manufacturing facilities and advanced weapons storage locations,” the military said.
The Truman and the rest of the vessels in its strike group remained “fully mission capable” after the loss of the plane, the Navy said.
It is not the first mishap for the Truman during its deployment in the Middle East. In February, the carrier collided with a merchant ship near Port Said, Egypt, damaging the carrier and the commercial ship. The Navy fired the carrier strike group commander afterward.
In December, an F/A-18 Super Hornet flying from the aircraft carrier was shot down by the guided-missile cruiser Gettysburg, which was accompanying the Truman. The two pilots were safely recovered.
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