WASHINGTON (KMJ/KFSN) — An F/A-18 fighter jet assigned to a squadron based out of NAS Lemoore rolled off the side of an aircraft carrier and sank to the bottom of the Red Sea on Monday.
The Navy said at the time, the aircraft was being towed out of the hangar bay of the USS Harry S. Truman when the crew lost control and the aircraft and a tow tractor went overboard.
There was one crew member aboard the jet and a second on the tractor during the move, both were able to jump clear of the aircraft before it fell overboard. One sailor sustained a minor injury.
The extraordinary mishap involving the $70 million jet was attributed to human error.
The USS Harry S. Truman has been operating in the Red Sea since last September, when it was deployed to help protect commercial ships against near-constant attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen.
