Navy loses two aircraft from USS Nimitz aircraft carrier within 30
minutes
[October 27, 2025]
By KONSTANTIN TOROPIN
WASHINGTON
(AP) — A fighter jet and a helicopter based off the aircraft carrier USS
Nimitz both crashed into the South China Sea within 30 minutes of each
other, the Navy's Pacific Fleet said.
The three
crew members of the MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter were rescued on Sunday
afternoon, and the two aviators in the F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet
ejected and were recovered safely, and all five “are safe and in stable
condition,” the fleet said in a statement. |
The USS Nimitz (CVN 68) departs San Diego Bay, Aug. 19, 2023, at Mission
Beach, in San Diego. (Nelvin C. Cepeda/The San Diego Union-Tribune via
AP, File) |
|
The causes of the two crashes were under investigation, the
statement said.
President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force
One en route to Tokyo on Monday, said the incidents could have
been caused by “bad fuel.” He ruled out foul play and said there
was “nothing to hide.”
The USS Nimitz is returning to its home port in Naval Base
Kitsap in Washington state after having been deployed to the
Middle East for most of the summer as part of the U.S. response
to attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on commercial shipping. The
carrier is on its final deployment before decommissioning.
Another aircraft carrier, the USS Harry S. Truman, suffered a
series of mishaps in recent months while deployed to the Middle
East.
In December, the guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg
mistakenly shot down an F/A-18 jet from the Truman.
Then, in April, another F/A-18 fighter jet slipped off the
Truman's hangar deck and fell into the Red Sea.
And 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.
No sailors were killed in any of those mishaps. The results of
investigations into those incidents have yet to be released.
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