US Navy suffers back-to-back crashes in South China Sea — Sea Hawk helicopter and fighter jet go down 30 minutes apart

A US Navy fighter jet and a helicopter from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz crashed into the South China Sea within just 30 minutes of each other on Sunday afternoon, the Navy's Pacific Fleet confirmed.

Rescue teams safely recovered all five personnel involved in the incidents. The three crew members aboard the MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter were rescued, and the two pilots in the F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet were also ejected and recovered safely. They are all reported to be in “safe and in stable condition,” the fleet said.

The Navy has yet to determine and report the cause of the accidents as the investigation is currently underway, AP reported.

USS Nimitz on final leg home

The USS Nimitz is returning to its home port in Naval Base Kitsap in Washington state after an extended deployment to the Middle East for most of the summer, where it was a part of the US naval response to attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on commercial shipping.

This is USS Nimitz's final deployment, hence it is significant as it precedes the carrier's decommissioning, AP reported.

Recent carrier incidents

This dual crash recalls several high-profile mishaps involving another aircraft carrier, the USS Harry S Truman, in the Middle East.

One such incident happened in December, when the guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg mistakenly shot down an F/A-18 jet from the Truman.

In another instance, in April, another F/A-18 fighter jet slipped off the Truman's hangar deck and went down into the Red Sea.

Then, in May, an F/A fighter jet went overboard while trying to land on the carrier in the Red Sea. This happened after the jet apparently failed to catch the steel cables used to stop landing planes, forcing the two pilots aboard to eject.

In all these cases, the sailors were ejected and recovered safely. None of the sailors died in any of those mishaps. The results of investigations into those incidents have yet to be released, AP reported.