The Navy has not yet made a determination if the service will recover a F/A-18 Super Hornet that blew off the deck of USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75).
The service announced Sunday that the Super Hornet was blown overboard on Friday due to heavy weather in the Mediterranean Sea. There was no personnel in the aircraft at the time, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa spokesperson Cmdr. Richlyn Ivey said in a statement to USNI News on Monday.
U.S. 6th Fleet is still reviewing how to recover the aircraft, Ivey said. The Super Hornet is assigned to Carrier Air Wing 1, but the Navy did not specify the squadron. A sailor was injured due to the heavy weather, but they are in stable condition with a full recovery expected, according to a Navy press release.
The Super Hornet mishap is under investigation, according to 6th Fleet.
In March, Naval Sea Systems Command and U.S. Pacific Fleet successfully recovered an F-35C Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter from 12,400 feet under the Pacific after a ramp strike aboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) early this year.
The Truman Strike Group has been operating in the Mediterranean Sea since December as part of the ongoing presence mission in Europe in parallel with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
During a visit of Truman in March, officials with the embarked Carrier Air Wing 1 told USNI News the carrier was flying up 90 sorties a day along NATO’s eastern front from the Mediterranean to as far north as Lithuania.
Truman is expected to return to Naval Station Norfolk, Va., next month and will be relieved by USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77).
Bush, Carrier Air Wing 10 and its escorts completed its month-long composite training unit exercise (COMPTUEX) in late June.
