U.S. warplane shot down by "friendly fire" over Red Sea

22/12/2024 17:15

Two U.S. Navy pilots ejected safely after their fighter jet was shot down Sunday over the Red Sea in an apparent "friendly fire" incident, said the U.S. military.

"The guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, which is part of the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, mistakenly fired on and hit the F/A-18," U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.



Both pilots were recovered alive after ejecting from their stricken aircraft, with one suffering minor injuries, according to the statement.



The apparent friendly fire incident came the same day U.S. forces conducted airstrikes on a missile storage facility and a command-and-control facility reportedly operated by the Houthis group within Sanaa, Yemen.



"CENTCOM forces conducted the deliberate strikes to disrupt and degrade Houthi operations, such as attacks against U.S. Navy warships and merchant vessels in the Southern Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb, and Gulf of Aden," CENTCOM said in a separate statement.