Two US Navy planes from the USS Nimitz went down in the South China Sea

Two U.S Navy aircraft A Sea Hawk helicopter and an F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet from the USS Nimitz — which crashed Sunday during separate “routine operations” in the South China Sea, have all five crew members rescued and in stable condition as the Navy investigates both incidents.

The US Pacific Fleet – the Navy’s largest operational command – said in a post on X that at 2:54 pm local time, an MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to the “Battle Cats” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 73 crashed in the South China Sea while conducting routine operations from USVN 6 (USVNC8).

Search and rescue teams from Carrier Strike Group 11Operating alongside the Nimitz, recovery efforts quickly began and all three helicopter crewmen were safely pulled from the water.

The crew was returned to the carrier for medical examination and later confirmed to be in stable condition, officials said.

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About 30 minutes after the helicopter incident, A F/A-18F Super Hornet A Nimitz aircraft assigned to the “Fighting Redcocks” of Strike Fighter Squadron 22 also went down in the South China Sea during a flight operation.

Search-and-rescue teams again responded quickly, recovering the jet’s two crew members, who had successfully ejected before the plane hit the water. Both pilots were flown back to the Nimitz and were reported to be in stable condition.

The US Pacific Fleet said in a statement that all five service members involved in the crash are safe and accounted for.

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In this handout photo provided by the Navy Visual News Service, the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) begins at sea October 21, 2006 after a port visit in Naples, Italy. (Miguel Angel Contreras/US Navy via Getty Images)

The cause of both incidents remains under investigation, and the Navy has not released additional details about weather conditions, possible mechanical problems or the nature of training missions conducted at the time of the crash.

As investigators work to determine what caused the two accidents, operations on the USS Nimitz continue as the carrier is deployed to the Indo-Pacific region.

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An MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter from the US 7th Fleet carrying out Operation Nimitz lands on the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in the South China Sea on Sunday, February 12, 2023. Japan’s 7th Fleet said on Sunday that the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group and the 13th Maritime Expeditionary Unit were conducting “integrated mission strike force operations” in the South China Sea. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Justin McTaggart/US Navy via AP)

The Nimitz—the Navy’s oldest active aircraft carrier—serves as the centerpiece of Carrier Strike Group 11, which regularly conducts freedom-of-navigation and maritime security operations in the South China Sea, waters that have become increasingly contested amid rising tensions between the US and China.

These events occurred as the Nimitz undertook its final deployment in 1975, completing more than 50 years of service since commissioning. The carrier was previously involved in Operation Eagle Claw, the failed 1980 mission to rescue American hostages in Tehran.

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The accident coincided with President Donald Trump’s visit to Asia. The president spent Sunday night in Malaysia, on the southern edge of the South China Sea, and was expected to leave for Japan on Monday.