NORFOLK, Va. — A Navy fighter jet is shot down by the Navy destroyer USS Gettysburg Saturday, according to the Navy.
As News 3 has reported, the Navy says both people in the jet, which took off from the Norfolk-based USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier shortly before being shot down, did survive.
Watch: 2 US Navy pilots shot down over Red Sea in 'friendly fire' incident: US military
“It’s a tragedy," said Retired vice admiral Herm Shelanski.
Even though two Navy pilots are alive, Shelanski understands how mishaps can and do happen.
“While I was captain of the [USS] Harry S. Truman doing an operation, actually two jets collided in a pattern."
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Shelanski said in that case, pilot error was the issue.
But regarding the Dec. 21 incident, which the Navy is calling a case of "friendly fire," the biggest question we all have is how could this happen?
News 3 contacted the Navy for answers, but did not immediately hear back Tuesday. So, News 3 turned to Shelanski for insight.
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“It’s really some unfortunate aberration that led to this occurring," Shelanski said.
He explained there is extensive training and technology in place to try and prevent a situation like what happened over the Red Sea on Dec. 21.
Shelanski said one possibility is the F/A-18 Super Hornet that was shot down crossed into an area where anything traveling at a certain speed and altitude is automatically considered hostile and fair game to shoot down.
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According to the Navy, prior to the jet being shot down Navy ships and aircraft shot down Houthi drones and missiles.
“These drones, if there's a lot of them coming at you, you probably have an area that you've designated and say 'Anything in this area coming at us at this altitude, this speed we're going to designate hot.' In other words, we're going to designate it hostile and we're going to give permission for the tactical option officer to shoot down anything in there," Shelanski said. "Because sometimes, you don’t have the time to wait until it gets close enough that it becomes an even bigger threat. So it’s possible that somehow the airplane wandered in there or the sectors weren’t designated properly. I mean, there’s a lot of things that I can think of that may have gone amiss.”
As of Tuesday, the Navy had not identified the squadron the jet was a part of. But according to the Associated Press, based on the Navy’s description of the plane it was part of the Red Rippers stationed at Naval Air Station Oceana.
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News 3 highlighted the squadron during a Squadron of the Month segment back in 2019.
News 3 reached out to the base Tuesday to try to confirm the jet was part of the squadron, but a spokesperson said they couldn’t comment.
News 3 also reached out to Virginia U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans for comment. Kiggans is a former Navy Pilot. In a statement, she said she is looking forward to figuring out what happened.
"First and foremost, I am thankful the pilots involved in this incident are safe and were able to eject. I want to especially thank the maintainers and parachute riggers from VFA-11, the helicopter squadron HSC-11 who performed the rescue, and all those deployed during the holidays for their service to our country. It is imperative that CENTCOM leadership and the Navy investigate what occurred. I look forward to being briefed on the situation so we can prevent it from happening again. As a Naval aviator, I know our men and women in these squadrons are well trained and ready for any emergency situation. I’m thankful that training resulted in the safe return of two F/A-18 pilots to their families this week. However, on today’s dangerous world stage there is no room for error. Every effort must be made to ensure our Naval aviators can operate in any environment as safely and securely as possible."
Shelanski said a replacement jet will likely be flown to the strike group, which could cause problems because there will be one less plane wherever that replacement jet is taken from. As for the investigation, Shelanski said it will likely be wrapped up quickly.
