At about 6:18 p.m. on Monday, 28 September, something went badly wrong on the flight deck of USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. A jet was coming aboard during recovery operations off the coast of Virginia. Moments later, both of its aviators had ejected.
Search and rescue crews pulled them out and brought them back to the carrier. Four sailors on the ship were also hurt, and one was taken to a hospital in the Norfolk area with injuries the Navy describes as non-life-threatening. The other three are being treated on board.
What the Navy has not said is almost as interesting as what it has. It has not named the aircraft. It has not said what happened. And it has not said what became of the jet.
Quick Facts
- When: About 6:18 p.m. EDT, Monday 28 September 2026
- Where: Off the coast of Virginia, during aircraft recovery operations
- Ship: USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), Nimitz-class, commissioned 1977
- Aircrew: Two aviators from Carrier Air Wing 3, both ejected and were recovered
- Injured on deck: Four sailors; one taken to a Norfolk-area hospital, non-life-threatening
- Aircraft: Not identified by the Navy; USNI News says it was a two-seater
- Cause: Under investigation
What the Navy Said
The Navy announced the mishap on X late on Monday evening, in a short statement headlined "Two Naval Aviators Safely Recovered Following USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Mishap." It said the mishap happened "during aircraft recovery operations," which is Navy language for landing aircraft back aboard the ship.
Both aviators were assigned to Carrier Air Wing 3, Ike's regular air wing. The statement added that carrier crews train constantly for emergencies during flight operations, and that this training let the crew respond quickly and safely.
The Associated Press asked for more detail. It got no answer on the aircraft type, the cause, or whether the aircraft was lost.
Which Jet Was It?
The Navy is keeping that to itself for now. USNI News reports the aircraft was a two-seater and names the three obvious candidates: the F/A-18F Super Hornet, the EA-18G Growler and the T-45C Goshawk trainer.
Carrier Air Wing 3 flies both of the first two. Its Strike Fighter Squadron 32 operates the two-seat F/A-18F, and Electronic Attack Squadron 130 flies the EA-18G. The T-45 is on the list for a different reason. Navy photos show Ike spent late August running carrier qualifications, including T-45Cs from Naval Air Training Command and F/A-18Es from the fleet replacement squadron VFA-106. Until the Navy says more, any one answer is a guess.
A Carrier Still Getting Back Up to Speed
The timing matters. According to USNI News, Ike finished a maintenance period in July and is in the early phase of her workups. She left Naval Station Norfolk on the afternoon of the mishap, and the air wing was starting its early carrier qualifications.
That is the stage where pilots re-earn the right to land on a moving deck at sea. Every trap is an arrested landing, with the tailhook snagging one of the wires stretched across the deck. When it works, the aircraft stops within a few hundred feet. When it does not, the aircrew may have a second or two to make the call to eject, and the sailors standing around the landing area are standing in one of the most dangerous workplaces anywhere.
Commissioned in October 1977, Ike was the second of the ten Nimitz-class carriers. She was built by Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia.
What Happens Next
A mishap investigation board will now reconstruct the last seconds of the landing: the approach, the wire, the aircraft's systems and the ejection. Navy mishap reports can take months to appear, and many are only released through public records requests.
The good news is the part that matters most. Two aviators rode ejection seats out of a bad landing, and both are back aboard.
Sources: U.S. Navy statement on X, Associated Press, USNI News, Stars and Stripes, DVIDS
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