Navy aviators eject during carrier landing off Virginia

Two Navy aviators ejected on Monday as they landed their plane off the Virginia coast, with four sailors aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower injured, according to the U.S. military.

In a “mishap” that occurred at roughly 6:18 p.m. EDT during aircraft recovery operations, the two aviators assigned to Carrier Air Wing 3 ejected from their aircraft and were recovered by search-and-rescue personnel, the Navy said in a statement .

“Both aviators were safely returned to the ship and are being evaluated by medical personnel,” officials added.

Four individuals on board the carrier were injured during the incident, and one sailor was transported to a hospital in the Norfolk, Va., area for treatment of “non-life-threatening injuries,” per the branch.

The Nimitz-class Eisenhower is the flagship for the Navy’s Carrier Strike Group 2 , led by Rear Adm. P. Scott Miller. The five-star carrier has maritime security, expeditionary power projection, forward naval presence, crisis response and sea control capabilities.

Named for former President Eisenhower, the carrier’s home port is in Norfolk. The ship, which was commissioned in 1977 as only the second boat in the Nimitz class, deployed in support of U.S. military efforts in the Gulf War and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Another Nimitz-class carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, departed Sunday from San Diego to relieve the USS George Washington in the Middle East.

The U.S. war with Iran , which hit the seven-month mark on Monday, has continued with no public sign of a deal to end hostilities.

President Trump on Monday reiterated his position that Iran “cannot have a nuclear weapon,” saying gas prices will decline once the conflict ends.

“I went to war to stop … one of the worst things that could happen to the world,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.