Fighter jet landing on USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier goes
overboard, forcing pilots to eject
[May 07, 2025]
By JON GAMBRELL
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — 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 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.
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.
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.
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Aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman is moored near Split, Croatia,
Feb. 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic, File)
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.
Rebels survey Sanaa's devastated airport
The Israeli attack on Tuesday that targeted Sanaa International
Airport devastated the airfield. Khaled al-Shaif, the head of the
airport, told the Houthis' al-Masirah satellite news channel that
the Israeli strike destroyed the airport's terminal and left craters
in its runway.
At least six passenger planes were struck, including three belonging
to Yemenia Airways, the country's flag-carrying airline, he said.
That leaves the airline with only one functional aircraft, which was
spared only because it had left earlier in the day on a flight to
Amman, Jordan. He put overall damage there at $500 million.
With the damage, the airport was now out of service, al-Shaif said.
Houthi attacks on shipping
The Houthis had been waging persistent missile and drone attacks
against commercial and military ships in the region in what the
group’s leadership has described as an effort to end Israel’s
offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
From November 2023 until January 2025, the Houthis targeted more
than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of
them and killing four sailors. That has greatly reduced the flow of
trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion
of goods move through it annually.
The Houthis paused attacks in a self-imposed ceasefire until the
U.S. launched a broad assault against the rebels in mid-March.
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