U.S. Loses Another F/A-18 Fighter Jet in the Red Sea

The U.S. Navy lost another F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet from the USS Harry S. Truman on Tuesday, marking the second such incident within a week.

According to a report by CNN, the jet experienced difficulty during landing operations. Both the pilot and the weapons systems officer on board were forced to eject before the aircraft crashed into the sea. The aircraft could not be recovered. The two crew members were later rescued and reportedly suffered only minor injuries.

Neither the U.S. military nor CENTCOM, which oversees operations in the region, has issued an official statement regarding the incident.

The crash follows the loss of another F/A-18 Super Hornet last week. That jet fell overboard after the Harry S. Truman executed an evasive maneuver to avoid an incoming missile reportedly launched by Yemen’s Ansar-Allah movement—commonly referred to as the Houthis. The jet sank to the bottom of the Red Sea.

It remains unclear whether Tuesday’s incident occurred before or after President Donald Trump publicly acknowledged a ceasefire in the nearly two-month-long U.S. bombing campaign in Yemen. The ceasefire reportedly followed an agreement brokered by Oman with the Ansar-Allah movement.

The bombing campaign, which began on March 15, has been plagued by escalating costs, a mounting toll on precision-guided munitions, and the confirmed loss of multiple MQ-9 Reaper drones. The recent agreement calls for the U.S. to suspend airstrikes on Yemen in exchange for Ansar-Allah ceasing attacks on U.S. ships and allowing freedom of navigation through the Red Sea for U.S.-linked vessels.

However, the deal does not include Israel. Following the announcement, statements from Sana’a indicated that Ansar-Allah would continue missile strikes against Israel and maintain a blockade on Israeli-linked shipping, in support of the Palestinian cause.