US Navy pilots survive ‘friendly fire’ incident over Red Sea

CAIRO – 22 December 2024: Two US Navy pilots were shot down over the Red Sea in what the American military has described as a case of "friendly fire."

Despite the ordeal, both pilots were discovered alive after successfully ejecting from their aircraft, according to media reports. One of the pilots sustained minor injuries during the incident.

This incident serves as a stark reminder of the persistent perils that loom in the Red Sea corridor, particularly amid ongoing attacks on shipping vessels linked to Israel, orchestrated by the Houthis of Yemen.

The incident comes a day after the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) forces announced conducting airstrikes against what it called military targets operated by Yemen’s Houthis in Sanaa.

CENTCOM announced targeting “a missile storage facility and a command-and-control facility” in the Yemeni capital, as well as “multiple Houthi one way attack uncrewed aerial vehicles (OWA UAV) and an anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM) over the Red Sea.”

CENTCOM said it conducted the strikes with the aim of disrupting and degrading Houthi operations, including attacks against US Navy warships and merchant vessels in the Southern Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb, and Gulf of Aden.

The US command said the attack involved the American Air Force and Navy assets, including multiple supersonic combat aircraft F/A-18.

The "friendly fire" incident took place when the guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, part of the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, accidently fired on an F/A-18 jet, according to CENTCOM.