During a standard carrier landing, a U.S. Navy E-2C Hawkeye — the fleet’s trusted airborne early warning aircraft — encountered a critical emergency when its arresting cable snapped under extreme tension. These steel cables are built to stop aircraft weighing over 50,000 pounds within seconds, using powerful hydraulic systems to absorb immense kinetic energy. When one fails, the risk is immediate — the plane can overshoot the flight deck and plunge into the sea almost instantly. In this instance