Fighter jet landing on USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier goes overboard, forcing pilots to eject

DUBAI United Arab Emirates AP An F A- fighter jet landing on the USS Harry S Truman aircraft carrier in the Red Sea went overboard forcing its two pilots to eject a defense official narrated The Associated Press on Wednesday The occurrence Tuesday marks the latest mishap to mar the deployment of the Truman which has been essential in the airstrike campaign by the United States against Yemen s Houthi rebels On Tuesday President Donald Trump and Oman s foreign minister both declared a ceasefire had been reached with the Houthis who would no longer target ships in the Red Sea corridor something not right now acknowledged by the rebels Meanwhile the Houthis continue to assess the damage after daytime Israeli airstrikes targeted Yemen s rebel-held capital of Sanaa Landing goes wrong on carrier The F A- Super Hornet landed on the Truman after a flight but the arrestment failed stated the official who spoke on condition of anonymity as they weren t authorized to speak publicly about the circumstance now under assessment Arrestment refers to the hook system used by aircraft landing on carriers which catches steel wire ropes on the flight deck It remains unclear what part of the system failed The two pilots on board were later rescued by a helicopter and suffered minor injuries in the case the official added No one on the flight deck was hurt CNN first broadcasted on the event Tuesday s episode was the latest to see the Navy lose an F A- which cost about million In April another F A- fighter jet slipped off the hangar deck of the Truman and fell into the Red Sea The crew members who were in the pilot seat of the Super Hornet and on the small towing tractor both jumped away In December the guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg mistakenly shot down an F A- after ships earlier shot down multiple Houthi drones and an anti-ship cruise missile launched by the rebels Both aviators in that situation also survived And in February the Truman collided with a merchant vessel near Port Declared Egypt The Truman based out of Norfolk Virginia has seen its deployment extended multiple times amid the Houthi airstrike campaign It had been joined not long ago by the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier operating out of the Arabian Sea Houthi attacks on shipping The Houthis had been waging persistent missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in the region in what the group s leadership has described as an effort to end Israel s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip From November until January the Houthis targeted more than merchant vessels with missiles and drones sinking two of them and killing four sailors That has greatly reduced the flow of business through the Red Sea corridor which typically sees trillion of goods move through it annually The Houthis paused attacks in a self-imposed ceasefire until the U S launched a broad assault against the rebels in mid-March