A second multi-million dollar fighter jet has fallen off the USS Harry S. Truman and plummeted into the Red Sea.
A U.S. F-18 fighter jet went overboard on Tuesday after tipping off the flight deck, according to officials.
The two-seater F/A-18F Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 11, went off the deck as it was landing around 9:45 p.m. local time and crashed into the sea, sources told NBC News.
The two aviators aboard suffered minor injuries after ejecting from the failed landing, in which the aircraft failed to catch the wire, known as a ‘failed arrestment.’
Both members of the crew ejected before the jet plunged into the water and were recovered by a rescue helicopter.
Based on initial reports, the tail hook appeared to fail to hook the wire that slows down the aircraft, which continued to accelerate toward the bow and went into the water, sources told the news outlet.
It is the second time in recent days that the aircrafts, which costs up to $70 million, have been lost in the Red Sea.
Last week, another fighter jet fell overboard from the Truman, which has been aiding U.S. strikes against Yemen’s Houthi fighters.
A second multi-million dollar fighter jet has fallen off the USS Harry S. Truman (pictured) and plummeted into the Red Sea
A two-seater F/A-18F Super Hornet (pictured), attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 11, went off the deck as it was landing around 9:45 p.m. local time and crashed into the sea
On April 28,the jet slipped off the hanger deck of an aircraft carrier deployed to the Middle East, as sailors were towing the aircraft into place in the hangar bay.
A quick-thinking sailor was able to narrowly escape a fighter jet just moments before it fell into the Red Sea.
The unidentified sailor was inside the cockpit of an F/A-18 fighter jet when it slipped off the hanger deck, reported Business Insider.
Navy officials have previously said the move crew ‘lost control’ of the Super Hornet fighter jet and that one sailor was injured in the incident.
But, a U.S. defense official revealed that the sailor – who was slightly injured – bailed out of the cockpit as soon as it became clear that the fighter jet was going to go overboard.
Yet it remains unclear how much time past between the sailor escaping the plane and it falling into the water.
The defense official noted that it is standard procedure for a sailor to be in the jet’s cockpit when the aircraft is being moved in case the crew needs to use the emergency brake or steer.
Fighter jets are routinely towed around the hangar deck to park them where they are needed for any flight operations or other work.
The Truman’s deployment has already been extended once by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth by about a month to fight the Yemen-based Houthi rebels
It is unclear whether there will be an effort to recover the jet, which was a part of Strike Fighter Squadron 136. The incident remains under investigation.
The USS Truman has been deployed to the Middle East for months and was recently involved in stepped-up military operations against the Yemen-based Houthi rebels.
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.
Last month, US airstrikes in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa killed at least eight people, according to Houthi rebels.