The US Navy’s Pacific Fleet has lost two aircraft after a series of accidents in the South China Sea. A fighter jet and a helicopter from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz both crashed into the sea after getting into difficulties.
According to a Navy statement, the incidents happened within 30 minutes of each other on Sunday afternoon. The MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter went down with three crew members on board, all of whom were subsequently rescued. The two pilots from the F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet were able to eject in time and were later picked up.
The Fleet’s statement confirmed that all five were “safe and in a stable condition.”
The causes of the two accidents are now being investigated, the US Navy said.
The USS Nimitz has been doing a tour of duty in the Middle East for most of the summer and is on its way back to its home port on Naval Base Kitsap in Washington state
It had been deployed to the area to protect commercial shipping following Houthi attacks. Once it returns to port, the aircraft carrier will be decommissioned.
Ships from the US Navy have been involved in a number of accidents over the last few months. Another aircraft carrier, the USS Harry S. Truman, suffered a series of mishaps recently while deployed to the Middle East.
In December, the guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg mistakenly shot down an F/A-18 jet from the Truman.
Then, in April, another F/A-18 fighter jet slipped off the Truman’s hangar deck and fell into the Red Sea.
And in May, an F/A fighter jet landing on the carrier in the Red Sea went overboard after apparently failing to catch the steel cables used to stop landing planes and forcing its two pilots to eject.
Fortunately, there were no fatalities among the ships’ crew in any of those incidents. The results of investigations into those incidents have yet to be released.
