If you’ve ever spent time on a boat, chances are you’ve lost something off of it. A shoe, a magazine, an earring, it happens to the best of us — things just fall into the water, and they’re often never seen again. But while you or I may lose a pair of sunglasses, the U.S. Navy managed to lose an entire F/A-18E Super Hornet as well as its tow tractor when the pair fell off the USS Harry S. Truman. No diamond earring or pair of Ray-Bans compares to the $60 million that dropped into the Red Sea.
A statement from representatives for the military claims that the USS Harry S. Truman turned sharply while the plane was being towed, as part of an evasive maneuver, according to CNN. The turn was apparently enough to send both fighter jet and tractor flying from the ship’s hanger, in what would be the last-ever bit of airtime for the Super Hornet — and, presumably, the first-ever bit of unassisted flight for the tractor. Luckily no one was injured, and the Navy says “an investigation is ongoing.”
Aircraft carriers lean when they turn
The issue with the Truman’s evasive maneuver is reportedly less to do with actual rotation, and more to do with how the ship rolls in a sharp turn. Aircraft carrier hangers aren’t exactly closed cargo bays, and the openings along the side are more than large enough to fit a plane through — it’s how planes get to the elevators that bring them up to the flight deck. The image above shows exactly how cavernous those openings are, with two F/A-18 Super Hornets sitting on an elevator aboard the USS John C. Stennis, a Nimitz-class carrier like the Truman.
Next time you drop your Oakleys off the side of a ferry, remember how much worse things could be. And, if you’re aboard the USS Harry S. Truman, just remember that you’d have to drop a whole lot more Super Hornets from your hanger to even begin to approach the financial waste that is the F-35 program. Keep that one in your back pocket as reassurance.
