The U.S. Navy lost two aircraft from the USS Nimitz in separate incidents within 30 minutes in the South China Sea.
Navy officials said that three crew members of an MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter were rescued, while two aviators in the F/A-18F Super Hornet ejected from the jet before it went down. All five military members were in safe and stable condition, The Associated Press reported.
The helicopter went down at about 2:45 p.m., local time, while the Super Hornet went down at about 3:15 p.m. on Sunday, ABC News reported.
South China Sea – 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
— U.S. Pacific Fleet (@USPacificFleet) October 26, 2025
All personnel involved are safe and in stable condition.
— U.S. Pacific Fleet (@USPacificFleet) October 26, 2025
The cause of both incidents is currently under investigation.
The cause of the incidents was under investigation, but President Donald Trump said it may have been caused by what he said was “bad fuel,” adding that there was no foul play and that there was “nothing to hide,” the AP reported. He also called the back-to-back incidents “very unusual,” CNN reported.
The USS Nimitz is on the way back to Naval Base Kitsap in Washington after a deployment to the Middle East. It is the final deployment before the carrier is decommissioned.
This is the fourth F/A-18 has lost this year, CNN reported. One fell off a carrier in the Red Sea, a second had a landing system issue, while a third crashed off of Virginia during a training flight in August. Each jet costs about $60 million.
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