Two US Navy Aircraft From Carrier USS Nimitz Crash Into South China Sea Within 30 Minutes

A US Navy fighter jet and a helicopter operating from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz crashed into the South China Sea within half an hour of each other on Sunday (26 October).

All five personnel onboard these aircraft survived, reports say. The three crew members aboard the MH-60R Seahawk helicopter were rescued, while the two aviators flying the F/A-18F Super Hornet ejected safely.

The Nimitz, the Navy’s oldest active carrier, is returning to its home port at Naval Base Kitsap in the US' Washington state after months in the Middle East, where it was deployed in response to Houthi rebel attacks on commercial shipping.

The twin crashes add to a growing list of aviation mishaps aboard US aircraft carriers in recent months. The USS Harry S Truman suffered several accidents earlier this year, including one in which a guided-missile cruiser mistakenly shot down a fighter jet and another where an F/A-18 rolled off the flight deck into the Red Sea.

No fatalities have been reported in any of the recent incidents, but the pattern has raised concerns about maintenance standards and operational fatigue across the US Navy’s carrier fleet.