How the wind lifted up a jet fighter from a carrier and threw it into the Mediterranean?

Plane overboard! A 12-ton Super Hornet fighter aircraft has been blown off the deck of an American aircraft carrier in heavy seas and unprecedented winds in the Mediterranean. The US Navy F/A-18 had no pilot in the cockpit when it lifted up into the air and careered overboard into the sea. One sailor on the carrier, the USS Harry S Truman, was injured during the incident. “One sailor received minor injuries while conducting operations during the unexpected heavy weather,” a spokesman for the US Navy 6th Fleet, based in Naples, said. “The sailor is in stable condition and expected to make a full recovery,” the spokesman said. USS Harry S Truman has been on an extended deployment in the Mediterranean following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The 6th Fleet spokesman said flight missions were continuing. The loss of the Super Hornet occurred while the nuclear-powered Nimitz-class carrier was engaged in a food and supplies replenishment operation. An investigation is underway. But all fighter aircraft on board carriers are normally chained to the deck to avoid the risk of being blown overboard in severe weather conditions or affected by the blast of another jet while being catapulted into the air. The carrier which has about 90 fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters on board and a crew of 5,000 has been operating in the Mediterranean for the last four months and is expected to remain in the 6th Fleet region until August. It is due to be replaced by the USS George HW Bush carrier strike group. Although no decision has yet been made it is likely an attempt will be made to recover the Super Hornet. Last year an F-35B “jumpjet” joint strike fighter was recovered from the seabed in the Mediterranean after it crashed during take-off from the Royal Navy carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth. US and Italian salvage operators helped to bring up the shattered parts of the jet from a depth of more than a mile. The F-35B had never got airborne and toppled off the end of the flight deck. The pilot ejected safely.