The US Navy has announced that a Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet has been lost in the Red Sea. The loss happened after the aircraft rolled off the deck of an aircraft carrier.
The incident occurred on board the USS Harry S. Truman, one of the ten Nimitz-class aircraft carriers of the U.S. Navy. It is speculated that an attack by Houthi rebels may have been the cause. At the time of the incident, the F/A-18E was being moved from the hangar deck to an aircraft elevator.
Reportedly, an evasive maneuvre by the ship caused the crew to lose control of both the tow vehicle and the aircraft, after which both fell off deck. The Super Hornet sank into the sea. One of the two crew members involved sustained minor injuries. Despite the incident, the carrier and all onboard squadrons remain operational. It is not yet confirmed whether the Super Hornet in the Red Sea will also be recovered, but it seems likely.
Blown off
Three years ago, the U.S. Navy also lost an F/A-18 Super Hornet on the same aircraft carrier. That incident happened on the Mediterranean Sea. The ship was hit by unexpected severe weather which led to a Super Hornet to be blown off the deck. That aircraft was later recovered.
Earlier in 2022, the US Navy lost another aircraft. In January of that year, a Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II went overboard in the South China Sea after the aircraft failed to stop during a hard landing. The pilot ejected safely, but seven sailors were injured. The Americans eventually managed to recover the wreckage of the F-35 from a depth of more than two miles, thereby preventing sensitive technology from falling into the hands of the Chinese navy.