A horrific friendly fire incident saw two US Navy pilots show down over the Red Sea yesterday. The US military announced the tragedy, which is the most serious incident that has threatened troops in more than a year of the US targeting the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Both aviators were recovered alive after ejecting from their stricken two-seat F/A-18 aircraft, with one suffering minor injuries. But the shoot down underlines just how dangerous the Red Sea corridor has become, with ongoing attacks on shipping by the Iranian-backed Houthis despite U.S. and European military coalitions patrolling the area.
The US military had conducted airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels at the time of the friendly fire incident, though the US military’s Central Command did not elaborate on what the pilots’ mission was. The F/A-18 shot down had just flown off the deck of the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, Central Command said. On Dec. 15, Central Command acknowledged the Truman had entered the Mideast, but hadn’t specified that the carrier and its battle group was in the Red Sea.
“The guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, which is part of the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, mistakenly fired on and hit the F/A-18,” Central Command said in a statement. “This incident was not the result of hostile fire, and a full investigation is underway.”.
From the military’s description, the aircraft shot down was a two-seat F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet assigned to the “Red Rippers” of Strike Fighter Squadron 11 out of Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia. While Central Command referred to both as pilots, typically a two-seat F/A-18 has a pilot and a weapons officer on board.
