DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An F/A-18 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 told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The F/A-18 Super Hornet landed on the Truman after a flight, but “the arrestment failed,” said the official, who is to remain anonymous.
“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 incident, the official added.
No one on the flight deck was hurt.
This is the second time an F/A-18 fighter jet fell off the Truman during its deployment in the Red Sea. On April 28, a fighter jet fell off the hangar deck as sailors were towing the aircraft into place in the hangar bay of the vessel.
Watch previous coverage: Fighter jet slips off the hangar deck of a US aircraft carrier in the Red Sea, one minor injury
The Truman has been essential in the airstrike campaign by the United States against Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump and Oman’s foreign minister both said that a ceasefire had been reached with the Houthis, who would no longer target ships in the Red Sea corridor — something not immediately acknowledged by the rebels.
Watch related coverage: Trump says US to halt airstrikes on the Houthis after group 'capitulated'
Meanwhile, the Houthis continue to assess the damage after daytime Israeli airstrikes targeted Yemen’s rebel-held capital of Sanaa.
