A mid-flight refueling accident off the Virginia coast damaged a Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet strike fighter last week, officials told Navy Times.
The Dec. 16 incident involved two Super Hornets with Virginia-based Strike Fighter Squadron 106, according to Naval Air Forces spokesman Cmdr. Ronald Flanders.
A F/A-18E was aerially refueling its F-variant counterpart in the Virginia Capes Operating Area when a “basket slap” occurred, sending foreign object debris into both engines of the receiving jet, he said.
A basket is an attachment to the refueling probe that is used for mid-flight refueling.
A basket slap involves the refueling probe smacking into the receiving jet.
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Both aircraft returned to base, no injuries were reported and the cause and extent of the damages remain under investigation, Flanders said.
Navy officials initially labeled the incident as a “Class A” mishap, which involves accidents causing at least $2.5 million in damages.
It’s the third Class A aviation mishap since the new federal fiscal year began on Oct. 1.
A Navy RQ-4A Global Hawk drone was damaged Nov. 26 when debris struck its port side while taking off for a mission in the Middle East.
A Navy doomsday plane also sucked a bird into one of its four engines during a touch and go landing Oct. 2
The damaged engine for the E-6B Mercury, assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 20 at Maryland’s Naval Air Station Patuxent River, has since been replaced, officials said.
Geoff is a senior staff reporter for Military Times, focusing on the Navy. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was most recently a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at geoffz@militarytimes.com.