A U.S. Navy fighter jet and helicopter crashed in the South China Sea within 30 minutes of each other on Sunday in two separate incidents that President Donald Trump called “very unusual.”
The five crew members aboard both aircraft were rescued and are in “safe and stable condition,” according to the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Both Navy aircraft were conducting routine flights from the USS Nimitz when the crashes occurred, while President Trump was in the region.
The first aircraft that went down was a U.S. Navy MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter, which crashed at approximately 2:45 p.m. local time. The helicopter was assigned to the “Battle Cats” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 73 and had three crew members on board. After the MH-60R Sea Hawk went down, search and rescue teams were deployed from Carrier Strike Group 11, and all three crew members were rescued.
Just 30 minutes later, at around 3:15 p.m. local time, an F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet crashed during “routine operations.” The two crew members ejected before the crash and were also rescued by Carrier Strike Group 11 search-and-rescue personnel. The F/A-18F Super Hornet was assigned to the “Fighting Redcocks” of Strike Fighter Squadron 22.
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On Sunday, Trump was in Malaysia, where he attended the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit before he departed for Japan, where he is scheduled to meet with the country’s newly elected prime minister. Trump was asked about the crashes while speaking to reporters on Air Force One en route to Japan, and said they were “very unusual.”
“They think it might be bad fuel,” he added, according to The Wall Street Journal. “We’re gonna find out. Nothing to hide, sir.”
The U.S. Pacific Fleet said on Sunday evening that it is investigating the back-to-back crashes.
The USS Nimitz was on its way back to port in Washington after being deployed to the Middle East over the summer. After the crashes, China said it would “provide necessary assistance in a humanitarian spirit if requested by the U.S. side,” but the communist nation’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun also criticized the United States for conducting military operations in the region.
“I need to stress that the U.S. aircraft crashed while conducting military drills in the South China Sea. The U.S. has been flexing muscles by frequently sending military vessels and aircraft to the South China Sea,” Guo added. “This is the root cause of security issues at sea and disruption to regional peace and stability.”
Trump is expected to meet with Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday, as the United States threatens to impose a 100% tariff on Chinese goods. Trump said that he is hopeful that the United States will reach a trade deal with China in the coming days.
“I have a lot of respect for President Xi. I think we’re going to come away with a deal,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One.
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