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Splash One Hornet

by AW1Ed••33


USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75)

Navy Super Hornet falls overboard as USS Harry Truman makes hard turn during Houthi attack

The aircraft was being towed when the crew lost control of the Super Hornet. Both the plane and the tow tractor fell overboard.
Jeff Schogol

A Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet and a tow tractor fell off the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman on Monday while it was at sea, the service announced. All personnel are accounted for, and one sailor sustained what was described as a “minor injury,” in a Navy news release.

A U.S. official told Task & Purpose that initial reports indicate the mishap occurred as the Truman was making a hard turn amid a Houthi attack. No information about the nature of the threat was immediately available.

Both the Truman and a second aircraft carrier, USS Carl Vinson, are deployed to the Red Sea as part of ongoing operations against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Since March 15, U.S. forces have attacked more than 800 Houthi targets.

“The F/A-18E was actively under tow in the hangar bay when the move crew lost control of the aircraft,” the news release says. “The aircraft and tow tractor were lost overboard.”

Task&Purpose

Fortunately no one was injured, but Truman managed to capture this data point already having dumped and then recovered another F/A-18 in the Med not so long ago. Somebody got some ‘splainin to do.

 

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33 thoughts on “Splash One Hornet”

    1. That is just the recent weeks total. It is a little higher when you go back to the start of the pressure campaign on the Houthis. Though not all of them were shot down.

  3. Until I just sent out Navy Times which had the real story about the Aircraft going into the drink to LPH 3 crew members and non Navy Squids, I heard about the jet going overboard on my AM radio and I thought that the aircraft was taking off and then ditched into the drink..

  4. Would not want to be the one having to do the ‘splainin. Not even gonna ask “How dahell did this happen?” Gonna be enough people asking that. Glad no one was hurt and hope our salvage guys get to the bird before the ChiComs do. Prolly don’t matter, the ChiComs prolly already have the full schematics for everything on it anyhow. Can we still build ’18s? Or did that toolage go away like when they trashed everything for the ’22s?

    1. The last F-18 was built in 2000. I’m pretty sure Slick Willy approved the sale of the tooling to China when he was shipping the old Tomahawk factory over there so the Chinese could build their own cruise missiles and Gen III fighters.

      1. This was an F/A-18E Super Hornet… they are still in production by Boeing (since Boeing acquired McDonnell Douglas)

  5. That’s a real “Well, fuck!” Situation. Glad the crew is ok. At least, once their asses grow back.

  10. Once the plane is recovered, do they fix it up to fly again or just use it for parts? The tow motor is probably not worth recovering.

    1. Tow motor is just the beginning of an artificial reef. Whoever they deem responsible will be the second addition.

      1. Considering the event was an unplanned high-speed, high-roll angle ship maneuver to evade attack while the plane was being moved, I would think those responsible would be the Houthi terrorists that launched the missile at the carrier. Why would you blame any of the ship’s crew who were only doing their job at an inconvenient time?

        1. “unplanned high-speed, high-roll angle ship maneuver to evade attack”

          Exactly, an absolutely butt puckering event. I wonder how close the edge of the deck on the inside of the abrupt turn actually got to the waves.

          How many degrees can the Truman actually sustain in a turn?

  13. As Paul Simon said “Slip slidin’ away, slip slidin’ away
    You know the nearer your destination the more you’re slip slidin’ away”
    But seriously the FLIPL on this is gonna be crazy

  14. A whole lot of training is coming to the Airedales. Money on a stand down too when the Optempo eases up. Not a good time at all.

  15. Saw this earlier, I guess they are lucky the plane ran out the open elevator door instead of rolling into something splody in the hanger deck

    1. MY first thought, too. Says something about how surprisingly maneuverable something that big can be.

  18. Lots of oh shit going on but they weren’t on a peacetime situation there. The enemy gets a vote and there likely isn’t much response time to a fast moving missile attack. I’m not sure this won’t end up just being considered a combat loss. Had they not been under attack, yeah I can see a LOT of folks losing a large chunk of ass over it.

  19. Some poor 3rd class err former 3rd class Blue Shirt is going paying $50 a week for $60M jet.

    Lets do the math:
    $60M / $50 p/wk = 1.2M weeks or 23,077 years…

  21. So, the crewman who got a “minor injury”, does he qualify for a Purple Heart? Can you imagine trying to explain that at the VFW?

    Yeah, I got my Purple Heart for dumping an F18 in the drink.

  24. As a retired Supply Thief(chief….Supply CHIEF): I can only imagine the nightmare the poor investigating officer who has to do that FLIPL is about to go through.

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