Is the USS Harry S. Truman a bad-luck ship? Or has she just had bad commanders?

This state-of-the-art supercarrier has suffered a string of misfortunes, including a collision with a merchant ship that resulted in her commander being relieved, and the loss of a valuable F/A-18 fighter over the side.

Now, there has been another mishap; another F/A-18 has been lost, due to what is being described as an "arrestment failure."

Another F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet from the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier has been lost in the Red Sea, the second jet lost from the carrier in just over a week, five people familiar with the matter told CNN.    

It is not entirely clear what happened yet, as the investigation is ongoing, but two of the people said there was some kind of arrestment failure as the jet was trying to land on the carrier and the pilot and weapons systems officer had to eject. They were recovered by a rescue helicopter and are both alive, but they suffered minor injuries, one of the people said.

The jet crashed into the sea and has not been recovered, two of the people familiar with the incident said.

This is a $60 million asset.

It's unclear what happened as of this writing, but an "arrestment failure" would necessarily be a mishap as the Super Hornet fighter was attempting a landing. Either the aircraft's tailhook failed to catch one of the arrester cables, or the cables themselves failed, resulting in the fighter crashing into the ocean.

The crew of the fighter, at least, were not seriously injured, but now there is another American F/A-18 at the bottom of the Red Sea.

See Also: US Navy: Super-Carrier, Merchant Ship Collide in Mediterranean Sea

New: F-18 Rolls Off Side of USS Harry S. Truman, Sinks to Bottom of the Red Sea

It's been enough to make one wonder if the Truman is a bad-luck ship, but it's not the only naval asset we have in the region that has had incidents:

US Naval assets in the Red Sea have repeatedly come under Houthi fire since the Houthis began their attacks against Red Sea shipping in November 2023. In early 2024, a US destroyer in the Red Sea had to use its Phalanx Close-In Weapon System, its last line of defense to missile attacks, when a Houthi-fired cruise missile got as near as a mile away – and therefore seconds from impact.

The Truman aircraft carrier in particular, though, has been plagued with problems as part of its Red Sea deployment. In December, another F/A-18 fighter jet was operating from the Truman when it was “mistakenly fired” upon by the USS Gettysburg and crashed into the Red Sea. Both aviators ejected safely at the time.

There's an old quote, variously attributed but most often credited to a U.S. Navy submarine commander in World War 2: "If you're not lucky, we can't use you." Serendipity always plays a role in any human endeavor, but the string of mishaps suffered by the USS Harry S. Truman makes one wonder if this can be attributed to nothing more than bad luck. This ship has already lost a commander, which is a serious blow to the ship's record and the crew. Now this, the second lost aircraft in as many weeks, due to some as-yet not fully understood mishap.

This incident is still being investigated. We will bring you updates as events warrant.

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