WASHINGTON – Two U.S. Navy aviators ejected as they were landing their plane on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier off the coast of Virginia, a mishap that also injured four other sailors aboard the vessel.
It is the latest mishap involving Navy aircraft in the last couple of years, including two Navy jets that collided during an air show in Idaho in May as well as a fighter jet and a helicopter crashing into the South China Sea in October. Pentagon data released last year showed a spike in aviation mishaps across the U.S. military in 2024.
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On Monday, the two aviators, who are assigned to Carrier Air Wing 3, successfully ejected after “a mishap occurred during aircraft recovery operations” and were rescued by search and rescue personnel, the Navy said in a short statement.
The two were returned to the ship and evaluated by medical personnel, the Navy said. Four others aboard the ship also were receiving medical care, including one who was transported to a hospital in the Norfolk, Virginia, area to be treated for injuries that were not life threatening.
The Navy did not say what type of two-seater plane was involved, what happened to the plane or what might have caused the mishap. However, the sea service has two types of two-seat carrier aircraft — the F/A-18F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft — assigned to its carrier air wings. The Navy also flies the two-seat T-45 Goshawk jet as a training aircraft.
In response to a request for more details, the Navy said more information could be available later Tuesday.
The nuclear-powered Nimitz-class USS Dwight D. Eisenhower was commissioned in 1977 and recently completed extensive maintenance, repairs and modernization work at a shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia. It also had conducted sea trials in April following the overhaul, according to a Navy news release.
It has been taking part in checks following those repairs, with amateur ship spotters seeing the ship leaving Naval Station Norfolk on Monday afternoon.
The Eisenhower has not played a role in the U.S. war against Iran, which has lasted seven months. But concerns have been growing that some sailors have been stretched to the limit during the conflict.
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group spent a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea supporting the war, during which reports emerged of crew stress and poor mental health, as well as shortages of food and hygiene products. The Lincoln’s extended deployment drew the nation’s attention and increasing scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers.
As of Monday, the Lincoln was still on its way home to San Diego, according to a news release from Democratic Rep. Sara Jacobs of California. She and other lawmakers visited the carrier and spoke to sailors and Marines, whom Jacobs said shared stories of “their struggles to wash clothes, get medicine and health care, and eat enough food.”
Jacobs said she blames President Donald Trump for the strike group's “mail delays, food and supply shortages, low morale, and mental health crises.”
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Associated Press writer David Rising in Bangkok contributed to this report.