An F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter jet that was blown off the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman into the Mediterranean Sea during bad weather last month, has been successfully recovered, the U.S. Navy announced Monday.
The more than 32,000-pound aircraft, which costs roughly $50 million, “was recovered from a depth of approximately 9,500 feet” by a team of U.S. 6th Fleet, Task Force 68, Naval Strike Wing Atlantic, and Naval Sea Systems Command,” according to the Navy.
A crane lifting hook attached to a ship was then lowered to the seafloor and connected to the rigging, allowing it to lift the aircraft to the surface and hoist it onboard.
The last time the Navy used such a method was in March when it recovered an F-35C fighter jet that fell into the South China Sea in January after it crashed on the USS Carl Vinson.
“The recovery efforts demonstrate the U.S. Navy’s capabilities to conduct deep-water search and recovery operations world-wide,” the Navy said in a statement.
The aircraft was delivered to a nearby military installation to be prepared for transport to the United States, according to the Navy.
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