Two U.S. Navy aviators ejected from their aircraft during recovery operations aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) off the Virginia coast Monday evening, and four shipboard sailors were injured, the Navy said.
According to a Navy statement carried by CBS News, USNI News (opens in new tab) and Anadolu Agency (opens in new tab), the mishap occurred about 6:18 p.m. EDT on Sept. 28. Both aviators, assigned to Carrier Air Wing 3, were promptly recovered by search-and-rescue personnel, returned to the ship and evaluated by medical staff. One of the four injured sailors was transported to a Norfolk-area hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
The Navy did not identify the aircraft type, squadron or cause, or say whether the plane was lost overboard. USNI News (opens in new tab) noted that the Navy’s two-seat carrier air wing aircraft are the F/A-18F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler. USNI also reported Eisenhower was conducting early carrier qualifications after a repair period completed in July and, citing ship spotters, that it had left Naval Station Norfolk that afternoon.
The Navy said carrier crews train regularly for flight-deck emergencies and that training enabled a rapid response. Further details were not immediately released.