US Pacific Fleet confirms 2 US military aircraft crashed from aircraft carrier Nimitz in South China Sea in separate incidents

Two American military aircraft - an MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and a US Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter- crashed in the South China Sea on Sunday in two separate incidents, US Naval Institute's online news outlet USNI News reported Sunday evening. The US Pacific Fleet confirmed the crashes on Monday morning.

According to the US Pacific Fleet on X, at approximately 2:45 pm on Sunday, a US Navy MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter, assigned to the "Battle Cats" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 73 went down in the waters of the South China Sea while conducting operations from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68). Search and rescue assets assigned to Carrier Strike Group 11 safely recovered all three crew members.

According to the US Pacific Fleet, following the incident, separately, at 3:15 pm, an F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter assigned to the "Fighting Redcocks" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 22 also went down in the waters of the South China Sea while conducting operations from Nimitz. Both crew members successfully ejected and were also safely recovered by search and rescue assets assigned to Carrier Strike Group 11, it said in the X posts.

The US Pacific Fleet claimed that all personnel involved are safe and in stable condition. The cause of both incidents is currently under investigation, it said.