A U.S. Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter fell off the side of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman while the ship was conducting evasive maneuvers in response to incoming Houthi threats earlier today, a U.S. official has told TWZ. A tow tractor that had been moving the aircraft at the time also went over the side in the incident, in which thankfully only a single sailor suffered minor injuries.
CNN‘s Natasha Bertrand was first to report that the Truman making a hard turn in response to incoming Houthi fire may have been a contributing factor in the incident, citing an unnamed U.S. official. Military.com‘s Konstantin Toropin also subsequently reported this detail, again citing an anonymous U.S. official.
Navy supercarriers like Truman are capable of making very sharp and high-speed turns for ships of their size, including an evasive tactic, as seen in the video below.
A full statement on today’s incident from the Office of the Navy Chief of Information (CHINFO), the Navy’s top public affairs office, which does not mention any incoming Houthi threats at the time, reads:
“USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) lost an F/A-18E Super Hornet assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 136 and a tow tractor as the aircraft carrier operated in the Red Sea, April 28. All personnel are accounted for, with one Sailor sustaining a minor injury.
The F/A-18E was actively under tow in the hangar bay when the move crew lost control of the aircraft. The aircraft and tow tractor were lost overboard.
Sailors towing the aircraft took immediate action to move clear of the aircraft before it fell overboard. An investigation is underway.
The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group and embarked air wing remain fully mission capable.
The strike group consists of flagship Harry S. Truman, the nine squadrons of Carrier Air Wing 1, three guided-missile destroyers of Destroyer Squadron 28, and the Ticonderoga class cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG 64).“
Whether any weapons or other stores were loaded on the aircraft at the time is unknown. Whether or not the Navy is already planning to try to recover the jet is also not known.
The exact scale and scope of the threats that the Truman and the rest of its carrier strike group were facing when the Super Hornet and tow tractor went off the side are unknown, but the Houthis have been actively targeting American warships in the region for months. Though the Yemeni militants have been unsuccessful in hitting U.S. naval vessels so far, the group has an arsenal of anti-ship ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as kamikaze drones, that present real threats, especially when employed in large volume complex attacks.
Incoming Houthi kamikaze drones may have been a factor in a friendly fire incident last December in which Truman’s air wing lost an F/A-18F to a missile fired by the strike group’s cruiser USS Gettysburg. Sustained combat operations, in general, present a higher-risk environment in various ways.
Truman and the rest of its strike group departed on their current cruise in September 2024, and have spent much of the subsequent time conducting combat operations in and around the Red Sea. Those operations have been focused primarily on responding to threats emanating from Houthi militants in Yemen, but have also included strikes on ISIS-linked terrorists in Somalia. In March, the Pentagon extended Truman‘s deployment as part of a new and expanded campaign against the Houthis, which you can read more about here.
Truman had only returned to sea on Feb. 16 after repairs in Greece following a collision with a commercial ship in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Egypt’s Port Said earlier in the month. Though the ship suffered damaged, none of the aircraft onboard were damaged and none of the crew were injured as a result.
Both the collision and the friendly fire incident remain under investigation. Capt. Christopher “Chowdah” Hill replaced Capt. Dave Snowden as Truman‘s commanding officer after the collision. Hill had previously commanded the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower during a deployment that also included months of intense combat in the region, as you can learn more about in our exclusive interview with “Chowdah.”
Again, thankfully, in this latest incident, none of Truman‘s crew suffered serious injuries.
Howard Altman contributed to this story.
Contact the author: joe@twz.com