A U.S. Navy helicopter and fighter jet crashed into the South China Sea within 30 minutes of one another in separate incidents on Sunday, military officials said.
The crew members of both the MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter and F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter were rescued and did not sustain any injuries, according to U.S. Pacific Fleet. The two crashes are sure to raise significant questions, especially after other high-profile mishaps this year involving the F/A-18.
Sunday’s incidents in the South China Sea came as President Trump and other top administration officials were traveling to Asia. The president said “bad fuel” may be to blame for the twin crashes.
“They think it might be bad fuel. We’re going to find out. Nothing to hide. We’ll find out,” Mr. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
In a series of social media posts, Pacific Fleet said the Sea Hawk helicopter went down at 2:45 p.m. while conducting routine operations in the South China Sea, a vital sea route and the scene of increasing provocations in recent years by the Chinese military.
“Search and rescue assets assigned to Carrier Strike Group 11 safely recovered all three crew members,” Pacific Fleet said.
Thirty minutes later, Pacific fleet said, the F/A-18 also went down in the South China Sea. Both crew members on the fighter jet ejected and were found by Carrier Strike Group 11 search and rescue personnel, the Pentagon said.
Pacific Fleet said that both incidents are under investigation. Both aircraft took off from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz.
There has been a string of high-profile military accidents over the past several years, including several involving the F/A-18.
In April, an F/A-18 fighter jet slipped off the hangar deck of the USS Harry S. Truman and fell into the Red Sea. A month later, in May, an F/A fighter jet landing on the carrier in the Red Sea went overboard after apparently failing to catch the steel cables used to stop landing planes and forcing its two pilots to eject.
Last December, the American guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg mistakenly fired on and hit an F/A-18 aircraft flying over the Red Sea. The mistaken shoot-down seems to have taken place during U.S. airstrikes that targeted Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
There have been other significant incidents in recent years involving other aircraft.
In 2023, an Air Force CV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft crashed off the coast of Japan, killing all eight service members aboard. Investigators said it resulted from a “catastrophic failure” of the troubled craft’s gearbox and the pilot’s decision not to land immediately in response to warnings in the cockpit.
Also in 2023, an F-35 fighter jet flew unmanned for 11 minutes before it crashed in rural South Carolina after investigators said the pilot prematurely ejected from the aircraft.
Last October, two Navy aviators died in a jet crash near Mount Rainier in Washington.
• This article was based in part on wire service reports.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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