DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — An F/A-18 fighter jet touchdown on the usHarry S. Truman plane service within the Crimson Sea went overboard, forcing its two pilots to eject, a protection official instructed The Related Press on Wednesday.
The incident Tuesday marks the newest mishap to mar the deployment of the Truman, which has been important within the airstrike marketing campaign by america towards Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump and Oman’s international minister each mentioned {that a} ceasefire had been reached with the Houthis, who would now not goal ships within the Crimson Sea hall — one thing not instantly acknowledged by the rebels.
In the meantime, the Houthis proceed to evaluate the injury after daytime Israeli airstrikes focused Yemen’s rebel-held capital of Sanaa.
The F/A-18 Tremendous Hornet landed on the Truman after a flight, however “the arrestment failed,” mentioned the official, who spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t approved to talk publicly concerning the incident now below investigation.
“Arrestment” refers back to the hook system utilized by plane touchdown on carriers, which catches metal wire ropes on the flight deck. It stays unclear what a part of the system failed.
The 2 pilots on board have been later rescued by a helicopter and suffered minor accidents within the incident, the official added. Nobody on the flight deck was damage.
CNN first reported on the incident.
Tuesday’s incident was the newest to see the Navy lose an F/A-18, which price about $60 million. In April, one other F/A-18 fighter jet slipped off the hangar deck of the Truman and fell into the Crimson Sea. The crew members who have been within the pilot seat of the Tremendous Hornet and on the small towing tractor each jumped away.
In December, the guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg mistakenly shot down an F/A-18 after ships earlier shot down a number of Houthi drones and an anti-ship cruise missile launched by the rebels. Each aviators in that incident additionally survived.
And in February, the Truman collided with a service provider vessel close to Port Mentioned, Egypt.
The Truman, primarily based out of Norfolk, Virginia, has seen its deployment prolonged a number of occasions amid the Houthi airstrike marketing campaign. It had been joined lately by the usCarl Vinson plane service working out of the Arabian Sea.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell wrote on the social platform X that an investigation was underway and that “this plane was not struck by the Houthis.”
“The Harry S. Truman Provider Strike Group stays totally mission-capable,” he added.
The Israeli assault on Tuesday that focused Sanaa Worldwide Airport devastated the airfield. Khaled al-Shaif, the pinnacle of the airport, instructed the Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite tv for pc information channel that the Israeli strike destroyed the airport’s terminal and left craters in its runway.
A minimum of six passenger planes have been struck, together with three belonging to Yemenia Airways, the nation’s flag-carrying airline, he mentioned. That leaves the airline with just one practical plane, which was spared solely as a result of it had left earlier within the day on a flight to Amman, Jordan. He put total injury there at $500 million.
With the injury, the airport was now out of service, al-Shaif mentioned.
The Houthis had been waging persistent missile and drone assaults towards industrial and navy ships within the area in what the group’s management has described as an effort to finish Israel’s offensive towards Hamas within the Gaza Strip.
From November 2023 till January 2025, the Houthis focused greater than 100 service provider vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing 4 sailors. That has vastly diminished the circulate of commerce via the Crimson Sea hall, which usually sees $1 trillion of products transfer via it yearly.
The Houthis paused assaults in a self-imposed ceasefire till the U.S. launched a broad assault towards the rebels in mid-March.
