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WASHINGTON — The USS Nimitz aircraft crashes in the South China Sea on Sunday afternoon have raised serious safety concerns within the U.S. Navy. A fighter jet and a helicopter from the aircraft carrier both went down within 30 minutes of each other, the Navy’s Pacific Fleet confirmed.
According to a Navy statement, the MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter and an F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet crashed while operating near the carrier. The two aviators aboard the jet ejected safely, and the three crew members from the helicopter were rescued soon after. “All five are safe and in stable condition,” the statement read.
Navy investigates causes of twin crashes
The Pacific Fleet launched an investigation to determine what caused the two USS Nimitz aircraft crashes. Officials said the incidents happened during standard flight operations but provided no immediate explanation.
The USS Nimitz, one of the Navy’s oldest aircraft carriers, was en route back to its home port at Naval Base Kitsap, Washington, after a summer deployment in the Middle East. The ship had been part of the U.S. response to Houthi rebel attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Final mission before decommissioning
This deployment marks the final mission for the USS Nimitz before its planned decommissioning. The vessel, commissioned in 1975, has served as a flagship of U.S. naval power for nearly five decades.
The crashes come amid a troubling series of recent mishaps involving other Navy carriers. The USS Harry S. Truman, deployed to the Middle East, experienced several accidents earlier this year.
In December, the cruiser USS Gettysburg mistakenly shot down an F/A-18 jet from the Truman. In April, another fighter jet fell off the Truman’s hangar deck into the Red Sea. A month later, a separate F/A-18 overshot its landing and plunged into the sea after failing to catch the arresting cables.
Safety concerns under scrutiny
While no sailors have died in any of these incidents, the frequency of such crashes has sparked renewed calls for safety reviews across the Navy’s carrier operations. Officials said investigations into all recent mishaps remain ongoing.
The Navy emphasized that recovery operations for the wreckage are underway and that further updates will follow once preliminary findings are available.
