A Super Hornet of Carrier Air Wing 11 operating from USS Theodore Roosevelt has just crashed. Both aviators ejected safely.
An F/A-18F Super Hornet assigned to Carrier Air Wing 11 crashed while conducting routine flight operations in the Philippine Sea on Jun. 18, 2020. Both crew members aboard the aircraft ejected safely and were quickly recovered by a helicopter assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 8 aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71). They are on board the U.S. aircraft carrier and in good condition.
The incident is currently under investigation.
Although this has not been confirmed, the only squadron aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt to operate the two-seater F variant of the Super Hornet is the VF-154 “Black Knights” (modex 1xx).
The Theodore Roosevelt returned to sea toward the end of May after being docked in Guam for two months by the Covid-19 pandemic: the coronavirus saw 1,200 positives and one died among the sailors .
The Super Hornet crash in the Philippine Sea is the second U.S. military aircraft to crash this week: on Monday Jun. 15, a U.S. Air Force F-15C Eagle belonging to the 493rd Fighter Squadron “Grim Reapers” of the 48th Fighter Wing from RAF Lakenheath, crashed into the North Sea off the coast of the UK. The pilot, 1st Lt. Kenneth “Kage” Allen, was killed in the crash.