All personnel are safe and in stable condition, U.S. Pacific Fleet said.
ByABC News
October 26, 2025, 7:55 PM
A Navy helicopter and a fighter jet, both conducting routine operations from the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier, went down in the South China Sea about 30 minutes apart Sunday, the U.S. Pacific Fleet said in a statement.
The U.S. Navy MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter went down at about 2:45 p.m. local time. All three crew members were safely recovered, the Navy said.
«Following the incident, separately, at 3:15 p.m., an F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter assigned to the ‘Fighting Redcocks’ of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 22 also went down in the waters of the South China Sea while conducting routine operations from Nimitz.»
The U.S Navy USS Nimitz (CVN-68), the world’s oldest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier sails out of San Diego Bay to the Pacific Ocean to perform readiness drills before returning its homeport of Naval Base Kitsap on November 18, 2024 in San Diego, California. The ship is scheduled to be decommissioned in fiscal 2026.
Kevin Carter/Getty Images
Both crew members ejected and were also safely recovered, the Navy said.
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«All personnel involved are safe and in stable condition. The cause of both incidents is currently under investigation,» the U.S. Pacific Fleet said in the statement.
