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The incident occurred as the USS Harry S. Truman was conducting operations in the Red Sea, the Navy reported Monday, April 28.
The Truman has been deployed in the region since last September as part of a mission to help protect commercial shipping lanes from attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The aircraft, an F/A-18E Super Hornet, was under tow in the carrier’s hangar bay when the move crew lost control of the jet. Both the fighter and a tow tractor went overboard.
All personnel are accounted for, though one sailor suffered a minor injury.
Sailors towing the aircraft took immediate action to move clear of the area before the jet fell overboard, the Navy said. An investigation into the incident is underway.
The Super Hornet is a twin-engine, carrier-capable multirole fighter manufactured by Boeing.
The cost of a Super Hornet ranges from approximately $52 million to more than $60 million per aircraft, depending on the model and configuration.
The Truman Carrier Strike Group remains fully mission capable, the Navy said.
The strike group includes the flagship USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), the nine squadrons of Carrier Air Wing 1, three guided-missile destroyers of Destroyer Squadron 28, and the Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG 64).
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