U.S. Navy helicopter and fighter jet crash in South China Sea; all crew rescued

A U.S. Navy helicopter and fighter jet crashed separately during routine operations over the South China Sea, according to officials. All five crew members from the two aircraft were safely rescued.

The first incident occurred at approximately 2:45 p.m. local time on Sunday when an MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to the “Battle Cats” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 73 went down while operating from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, according to the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Search and rescue teams from Carrier Strike Group 11 recovered all three crew members.

Roughly 30 minutes later, at about 3:15 p.m., an F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet assigned to the “Fighting Redcocks” of Strike Fighter Squadron 22 also crashed into the sea during flight operations from the Nimitz. Both crew members successfully ejected and were safely recovered.

The Navy said all personnel involved are in stable condition, and both incidents remain under investigation.

The USS Nimitz, one of the Navy’s active aircraft carriers, has been operating in the western Pacific as part of ongoing U.S. patrols in the South China Sea, an area of heightened geopolitical tension involving overlapping territorial claims from China and several Southeast Asian nations.

The incidents come months after a separate pair of F/A-18 Super Hornet losses in the Red Sea, where aircraft operating from the USS Harry S. Truman were lost during different operations earlier this year.