Two US Navy aviators eject while landing on USS Eisenhower off Virginia coast, injuring four sailors

From the Newshound archive · first published 29 September 2026.

Both pilots assigned to Carrier Air Wing 3 were recovered by search and rescue teams and returned to the ship after ejecting during what the Navy called an "aircraft recovery mishap" on Monday evening. One of the four injured sailors was airlifted to a Norfolk-area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower is a nuclear-powered Nimitz-class carrier commissioned in 1977 and operating off the Virginia coast.

Both aviators are now being evaluated by medical personnel aboard the ship after search and rescue teams brought them back safely.

The incident follows a series of recent US military aviation mishaps, including four Navy crew members ejecting after two EA-18G Growlers collided in Idaho in May.