Two separate accidents in the South China Sea within minutes of each other saw a U.S. Navy Seahawk helicopter and an F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet both lost to the waves.
The two unrelated crashes happened within 30 minutes of each other between 2:45pm and 3:15pm local time on Sunday afternoon over the South China Sea. Both aircraft had taken off from U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Nimitz on what were described as “routine operations.”
An investigation has been launched into both incidents; quizzed about them later on, U.S. President Donald Trump dubbed them “very unusual” and said an initial line of inquiry was centring on the possibility that contaminated fuel could have been to blame.
No lives were lost and all personnel involved have since been described as being “safe, and in stable condition.”
A statement from U.S. Pacific Fleet read: “On October 26, 2025 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 (HSM) 73 went down in the waters of the South China Sea while conducting routine operations from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68).
“Search and rescue assets assigned to Carrier Strike Group 11 safely recovered all three crew members.
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.
“Both crew members successfully ejected and were also safely recovered by search and rescue assets assigned to Carrier Strike Group 11.”
- You can read more details on the US Navy’s Facebook page