Two U.S. Navy aircraft — a Sea Hawk helicopter and an F/A-18F Super Horn, fighter jet — crashed during routine operations in the South China Sea on Sunday, with all five crew members successfully rescued and in stable condition.
The U.S. Pacific Fleet confirmed the incident occurred around 2:54 PM local time, when a Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to the ‘Battle Cats’ of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 73 crashed in the South China Sea while conducting routine operations from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68). Search-and-rescue teams from Carrier Strike Group 11, operating alongside the Nimitz, launched recovery efforts and safely pulled all three helicopter crew members from the water.
The crew was returned to the carrier for medical evaluation and was later confirmed to be in stable condition. Approximately 30 minutes later, an F/A-18F Super Hornet from the Nimitz also went down in the South China Sea during flight operations. Search-and-rescue teams recovered the jet’s two crew members, who had successfully ejected before the aircraft hit the water. Both aviators were transported back to the Nimitz and are reported to be in stable condition.
The U.S. Pacific Fleet stated in a statement that all five service members involved in the crashes are safe and accounted for. The Navy has not released additional details about weather conditions, possible mechanical issues, or the nature of the training missions being conducted at the time of the crashes.
While investigators work to determine what led to the two mishaps, operations aboard the USS Nimitz have continued as the carrier remains deployed in the Indo-Pacific region. The U.S. aircraft carrier, the Navy’s oldest active aircraft carrier, is serving as the centerpiece of Carrier Strike Group 11, which frequently conducts freedom-of-navigation and maritime security operations in the South China Sea, an area known for its complex geopolitics, particularly as it relates to the U.S. and China.
The crashes coincided with President Donald Trump’s visit to Asia. The president spent Sunday night in Malaysia, located along the southern edge of the South China Sea, and was expected to depart for Japan on Monday. The U.S. military presence in the region is often a point of contention in regional disputes, underscoring the strategic importance of the area for maritime security, trade, and military posturing.