Major Incident in South China Sea: US Navy Helicopter and Fighter Jet Crash; Pilots Escape Unhurt

Washington (The Uttam Hindu): It was a tense Sunday for the US Navy after two of its aircraft crashed one after another in the South China Sea during routine operations. According to an official statement from Washington, a helicopter and a fighter jet went down under mysterious circumstances. Fortunately, in both incidents, the pilots managed to eject in time and survived safely.

Two Crashes Within Half an Hour

The first crash occurred on October 26 at around 2:45 p.m. local time, when an MH-60R Seahawk helicopter, nicknamed “Battle Cats,” took off from the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier. Shortly after takeoff, the helicopter crashed into the South China Sea. All three crew members on board were immediately rescued safely.

Barely 30 minutes later, another major mishap took place. A Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet, which also took off from the same aircraft carrier, crashed into the sea shortly after takeoff. As per the statement, the pilot(s) ejected safely before the jet went down.

Series of US Military Aviation Accidents

These back-to-back crashes come at a time when President Donald Trump is on his first tour of Asia, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is visiting several Asian nations. Officials noted that this is not the first such incident this year — earlier this year, another US military aircraft had crashed during an operation in Central Asia.