After eight sailors were injured aboard the aircraft carrier Dwight Eisenhower March 18 after equipment malfunctioned during a landing attempt, four were still being hospitalized today, officials from Naval Air Force Atlantic said.
The mishap occurred when one of the ship's arresting gear cables parted as an E-2C "Hawkeye" aircraft attempted to land. It's not clear what led to the mishap.
As of Monday, three sailors remained at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia in stable condition, COMNAVAIRLANT spokesman Cmdr. Mike Kafka said in a news release. One more sailor was being treated at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center, and was also listed in stable condition. Two of the injured sailors had already been treated and released, Kafka said.
"All remaining hospitalized patients are resting comfortably and some are expected to be released soon," he said in the release.
Two sailors suffered injuries that did not require hospitalization, and were treated aboard the carrier in the ship's medical department, Kafka said. One is being held for observation, he said, and the other has already been cleared for light duty.
The nature of the sailors' injuries has not been released, and they have not been identified by the Navy.
An aircraft mishap board is aboard the Eisenhower to investigate the cause of the mishap, Kafka said.
The Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, which is preparing for a deployment later this summer, resumed flight operations March 20.
--Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.
