Navy pilots avoid hitting ocean after landing cable snaps

Navy pilots have escaped death after a landing cable snapped during touch down on the deck of a US war ship.

Newly released video shows the E-2C Hawkeye plane land on the Norfolk-based aircraft carrier USS Dwight D Eisenhower on March 18 and hook the landing cable.

Just as the aircraft was almost at a standstill the cable snapped.

The cable hit eight crew members and caused the plane to roll off the edge of the aircraft carrier and disappear.

As the crew rushed to the side of the ship to assess the damage, the pilots used what little momentum was left to pull the plane up before hitting the ocean.

The crew members on deck hit by the cable suffered extensive injuries which included a fractured ankle, wrist, pelvis and legs with one sailor reported to have suffered a brain injury.

An extensive report into the incident revealed the accident was caused by human error, The Virginian-Pilot, reports.

It was the first time a cable had snapped aboard an aircraft carrier in more than a decade, a US military spokesman told the Navy Times.

The pilots who are listed in the report for their "phenomenal airmanship" managed to land the Hawkeye at a nearby naval base.

A sailor at the base said the incident had left the pilots "messed up".

"One of them, you could tell it messed him up," the sailor said.

"Because they thought they were going to die."