U.S. Navy loses helicopter and jet just 30 minutes apart over South China Sea, five crew rescued

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An F/A-18F Super Hornet and an MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) crashed in the South China Sea on Sunday in two separate incidents in the Pacific, USNI News has learned.

“At approximately 2:45 p.m. local time, a U.S. Navy MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter, assigned to the ‘Battle Cats’ of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 73 went down in the waters of the South China Sea while conducting routine operations from the aircraft carrier, reads a statement from U.S. Pacific Fleet. “Search and rescue assets assigned to Carrier Strike Group 11 safely recovered all three crew members.”

Less than an hour later, at 3:15 p.m., a two-seater Super Hornet assigned to the “Fighting Redcocks” of Strike Fighter Squadron 22 also crashed while flying from Nimitz.

“Both crew members successfully ejected and were also safely recovered by search and rescue assets assigned to Carrier Strike Group 11,” reads the statement.

https://news.usni.org/2025/10/26/super-hornet-helicopter-assigned-to-uss-nimitz-crash-in-south-china-sea-in-separate-incidents-crew-safe

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday, President Donald Trump called the near-simultaneous crashes “very unusual,” suggesting faulty fuel could be to blame. “They think it might be bad fuel. We’re gonna find out,” he said. Some are already calling Pete Hegseth out for speedy answers.

https://en.as.com/latest_news/us-navy-aircraft-crash-in-south-china-sea-what-we-know-about-the-helicopter-and-fighter-jet-incidents-f202510-n/