A US aircraft carrier's sudden maneuver to dodge enemy fire caught sailors off guard and caused a jet with faulty brakes to crash into the sea

A US Navy aircraft carrier executed a sharp maneuver to dodge enemy missile fire, resulting in a fighter jet sliding off the deck and into the Red Sea. An official investigation revealed that the sudden turn caught the crew off guard, while the F/A-18s brakes were malfunctioning, contributing to the accident.

The $60 million F/A-18 Super Hornet, along with a tow tractor, tumbled into the sea when the USS Harry S. Truman abruptly changed course during late April operations. Investigators determined that poor communication, faulty brakes, and slippery deck conditions all played a role in the mishap. This was the second of three F/A-18s the Truman lost during its monthslong Middle East deployment.

Incident Details

On April 28, the move crew lost control of an F/A-18 that was being towed in the carriers hangar bay. A sailor jumped from the cockpit just before the jet went overboard, sustaining minor injuries. The Navy did not disclose details about the ships status at the time of the incident.

The investigation found that the Truman was performing evasive maneuvers to avoid a medium-range ballistic missile fired by Houthi forces in Yemen. The move crew, preparing the F/A-18 for flight operations, was not informed that the ship was executing a hard turn. With the aircrafts brakes ineffective and chocks removed, there was nothing to prevent it from sliding backward toward the deck edge, dragging the tow tractor with it.

Causes and Contributing Factors

The official report cited several contributing factors:

• Malfunctioning brakes on the F/A-18.
• Poor communication between the ships bridge, flight deck control, and hangar bay.
• An aging non-skid deck surface, not replaced since 2018, reducing friction.

The combination of these issues led to the loss of the aircraft, a Boeing-made multirole fighter that has served in the Navy for decades.

Deployment Challenges

The Truman and its strike group had been conducting operations against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who had been targeting key shipping lanes in the Middle East. The April incident was one of several mishaps during the deployment. Previous incidents included a friendly fire shootdown in December, a collision with a cargo ship in February, and a third fighter jet lost in May due to a landing accident.

Author: Grace Ellison