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Super Hornet that fell off USS Harry S. Truman pulled out of the Mediterranean Sea

Truman Super Hornet fished out of Mediterranean Sea
Illustration: US Navy file photo of an F/A-18E Super Hornet on board USS Harry S. Truman

The US Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet that was blown off the flight deck of aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman last month has been recovered from the sea floor.

According to the service, the aircraft from Carrier Air Wing (CVW 1) was successfully recovered on August 3, less than a month after it was blown overboard in unexpected heavy weather on July 8.

As revealed, the fighter was recovered from a depth of approximately 9,500 feet (2,895 meters) by a team from Task Force (CTF) 68, Naval Sea Systems Command’s Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV), Harry S. Truman, Naval Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic, and US Sixth Fleet embarked on the multi-purpose construction vessel (MPV) Everest.

The aircraft was recovered using a CURV-21 remotely operated vehicle to attach specialized rigging and lift lines to the aircraft. A lifting hook was attached to the rigging to raise the aircraft to the surface and hoist it aboard Everest.

The aircraft is being delivered to a nearby military installation where it will be offloaded and transported to the United States, the navy said.

“Inherent to Task Force 68 is our ability to adapt to any mission set – we can rapidly mobilize and deploy scalable command, control, and communications, in order to seamlessly integrate and provide forward command and control when and where needed,” said CTF 68 Commodore, Capt. Geoffrey Townsend.

This is the second fighter jet the US Navy has had to recover from the sea floor after it recovered an F-35C that crashed from USS Carl Vinson as it was operating in the South China Sea.