According to the US Navy, a Monday accident on the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier caused a US warplane to go overboard into the Red Sea.
“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,” the Navy said in a statement.
“All personnel are accounted for, with one sailor sustaining a minor injury,” it said, adding that the carrier and its air wing remain mission capable and that the incident is under investigation.
According to a Navy data sheet, the F/A-18E had a unit cost of about $67 million as of fiscal year 2021 and achieved initial operating capability in the early 2000s.
Washington’s forces have been launching strikes against Yemen’s Huthi rebels since mid-March in an effort to eliminate the threat they pose to ships in the region, and the Truman is one of two US aircraft carriers presently stationed in the Middle East.
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