All 5 service members aboard two U.S. Navy plane are secure after the helicopters went down Sunday within the South China Sea minutes aside.
A U.S. Pacific Fleet spokesperson confirmed to Navy.com {that a} MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to the “Battle Cats” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 73 went down round 2:45 p.m. native time whereas working from the plane provider USS Nimitz (CVN 68). Search and rescue groups from Service Strike Group 11 pulled all three members from the water.
About thirty minutes later an F/A-18F Tremendous Hornet assigned to the “Preventing Redcocks” of Strike Fighter Squadron 22 additionally crashed. Each aviators ejected and had been rescued by provider restoration crews.
“All personnel concerned are secure and in secure situation,” Pacific Fleet stated in a press release. “The reason for each incidents is at present underneath investigation.”
“Unhealthy Gasoline” Possibly The Perpetrator
Talking aboard Air Pressure One on his option to Tokyo, Japan, for a regional summit on Indo-Pacific safety and commerce, President Donald Trump informed reporters “unhealthy gas” could have precipitated the crashes.
Pacific Fleet declined to handle the president’s remarks and referred all inquiries to the White Home, which at press time had not responded to Navy.com’s request for remark.
The Navy says investigators are nonetheless gathering data and haven’t but decided whether or not the 2 mishaps are associated. Flight operations aboard Nimitz proceed.
The provider and its air wing are a part of Service Strike Group 11, now deployed within the South China Sea—a flashpoint the place U.S. and Chinese language forces usually function in shut proximity.
