USS Truman aircraft carrier loses $60M fighter jet in Red Sea, Navy says

The USS Harry S. Truman lost an F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter jet that was being towed on Monday in the Red Sea, the Navy said.

The fighter jet slipped off the hangar deck of the aircraft carrier, deployed to the Middle East, as sailors were towing the aircraft into place in the hangar bay, the Navy said. 

Two U.S. officials say initial reports suggest the jet may have fallen overboard after the carrier turned sharply while taking evasive action against the Yemen-based Houthi rebels.

The crew members who were in the pilot seat of the Super Hornet and on the small towing tractor both jumped out before the jet and the tug went into the Red Sea. One sailor sustained a minor injury, and all personnel are accounted for, the Navy said. An investigation is underway.

“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. The jet was part of Strike Fighter Squadron 136.

“Sailors towing the aircraft took immediate action to move clear of the aircraft before it fell overboard,” the Navy said. 

Fighter jets are routinely towed around the hangar deck to park them where they are needed for any flight operations or other work. It is unclear whether there will be an effort to recover the jet. F/A-18Es cost more than $60 million, according to the Navy. 

The Truman has been deployed to the Middle East for months and has recently been involved in stepped-up military operations against the Houthis. U.S. Central Command has said that the military has conducted daily strikes, which have been done by fighter jets, bombers, ships and drones.

The Truman’s deployment has already been extended once by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth by about a month.

In February, the aircraft carrier was in a collision with a merchant vessel in the Mediterranean Sea near the entrance to the Suez Canal in Egypt. There were no reports of injuries or flooding after the collision, a Navy spokesperson said in a statement. Capt. Dave Snowden, who was in charge of the USS Truman at the time of the collision, was later fired.

The USS Harry S. Truman is the Navy’s ninth nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and was launched on Sept. 13, 1996, according to the branch. The 1,092-foot-long ship can travel over 30 knots per hour, can carry about 90 aircraft and can accommodate more than 6,000 crew members.

The Navy said Monday that the aircraft carrier group and its air wing “remain fully mission capable.”

Eleanor Watson

contributed to this report.