A US aircraft carrier's hard turn to avoid enemy fire surprised sailors and sent a jet with bad brakes into the sea

"A US Navy aircraft carrier's hard evasive turn to avoid enemy missile fire caught crewmembers off guard and sent a $60 million F/A-18 Super Hornet rolling off the deck and into the Red Sea, an investigation into the fighter jet loss revealed. The fighter's brakes weren't functioning properly, investigators found, allowing the jet to slide across the deck when the carrier USS Harry S. Truman abruptly changed course during the late April action. Poor communication, bad brakes, and a slippery surface all contributed to the loss."

"A tow tractor also fell into the water alongside the expensive F/A-18 fighter jet, the second of three that the Truman lost during a monthslong Middle East combat deployment. When it went over, it nearly took sailors overboard as well. On April 28, the move crew lost control of an F/A-18 under tow in the Truman's hangar bay, a maintenance area below the flight deck, the Navy reported at the time, and both the jet and its tow tractor tumbled into the Red Sea. Right before it fell in, a sailor jumped from the cockpit, suffering minor injuries."

"During their deployment, the Truman and its strike group led Navy combat operations against the Houthis, the heavily armed Iran-backed rebel group in Yemen that spent more than a year attacking key Middle East shipping lanes. The Navy didn't share information or insight into the warship's situation at the time of the plane loss. According to the command investigation, the fighter jet and the tractor fell overboard while the Truman was conducting evasive maneuvers to avoid an incoming medium-range ballistic missile fired by the Houthis, a detail that had been reported but not confirmed at the time."

The USS Harry S. Truman made a hard evasive turn to avoid an incoming medium-range ballistic missile, triggering an F/A-18 Super Hornet to slide from the deck and into the Red Sea. Investigators found the fighter's brakes were not functioning properly and a tow tractor also went overboard, nearly pulling sailors with it. One sailor jumped from the cockpit and suffered minor injuries. Poor communication, brake failure, and a slippery hangar-deck surface all contributed to the loss. The jet, valued at $60 million, was the second of three lost during the carrier's monthslong Middle East deployment against Houthi forces.

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