A Navy fighter jet went overboard while attempting to land on the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman on May 6, the second time in a little more than a week that the carrier has lost a fighter overboard while operating in the Red Sea.
In an emailed press statement, a defense official confirmed to The Epoch Times that the F/A-18F Super Hornet jet, assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 11, was landing on the carrier when the ship’s aircraft arresting system failed and the aircraft went overboard.
The defense official said the two pilots were able to eject safely and had only minor injuries. No flight deck personnel were injured.
U.S. forces, including the Truman and USS Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Groups, have been deployed to the Red Sea and adjacent Middle Eastern waterways to help fend off Houthi drone and missile attacks targeting international shipping. The carrier groups have also fired on Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
The Houthi terrorist group seized control over the Yemeni capital of Sana'a in 2014 as part of a civil war with the internationally recognized government. The Houthis control an area covering a supermajority of Yemen’s population.
Following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks across southern Israel and the ensuing Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis turned their attention outward. Claiming solidarity with the Palestinian cause, the Houthis began a campaign of drone and missile attacks targeting Israel and Red Sea shipping.
U.S. forces soon stepped in to help intercept the Houthi attacks. By January of 2024, the Biden administration had ordered U.S. forces to conduct offensive strikes across Houthi-controlled Yemen.
After Israel and Hamas reached a cease-fire agreement in January, the Houthi attacks relented. U.S. forces, in turn, tapered off their strikes on Yemen.
As the Gaza cease-fire collapsed, the Houthis threatened to resume their attacks.
By March 15, President Donald Trump had ordered U.S. forces to resume strikes on Houthis in Yemen.
The U.S. Central Command, on April 28, reported that U.S. forces have killed hundreds of Houthi fighters and several senior commanders in the airstrikes, dubbed “Operation Rough Rider.”
Speaking with reporters on May 6, Trump announced that the Houthis had relayed to the White House that they will cease fighting.
“They just don’t want to fight, and we will honor that, and we will, we will stop the bombings, and they have capitulated,” Trump said.
At a press briefing following Trump’s comments, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said the diplomatic breakthrough with the Houthis will end attacks on U.S. vessels in the Red Sea and its adjoining waterways.
Houthi officials have since claimed that they will continue their attacks on Israel.
