Navy rescues five sailors after fighter jet, helicopter crash in South China Sea

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) -- Five U.S. Navy sailors were rescued from the South China Sea on Sunday after a Navy fighter jet and helicopter crashed into the ocean in separate incidents, the U.S. Navy reports.

An F/A-18F Super Hornet and an MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) went down in the ocean during routine operations and all crew safely ejected and were rescued.

At 2:45 p.m. local time on Sunday, the Navy reports an MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter, assigned to the "Battle Cats" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 73, went down in the waters of the South China Sea. Search and rescue crews assigned to Carrier Strike Group 11 recovered all three crew members from the water.

Less than an hour later, at 3:15 p.m., the Navy reports a two-seater Super Hornet fighter jet assigned to the "Fighting Redcocks" of Strike Fighter Squadron 22 also crashed while flying from Nimitz. The two sailors were able to eject and were also recovered by search and rescue crews assigned to Carrier Strike Group 11.

The Navy reports all crew are safe and in stable condition after the incidents and that they will be investigated.

USS Nimitz (CVN-68) is on the return leg of its final deployment before returning to the West Coast. The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier is homeported at Naval Base Kitsap in Washington State but will be moving to Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, in April 2026 before its decommissioning.

USS Nimitz was homeported at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego from 2001 to 2012, where it set off from in 2005 to support Operation Iraqi Freedom and the Global War on Terrorism. Nimitz is part of Carrier Strike Group Eleven (CSG-11), with Carrier Air Wing Seventeen (CVW-17) embarked.

The Navy said the carrier, its escorts and the embarked Carrier Air Wing 17, left from the West Coast on March 26 and operated in the Middle East for most of the summer, as part of the U.S. response the Houthi attacks on commercial shipping. 

The aircraft carrier entered the South China Sea on Oct. 17, USNI News reported at the time.

The U.S. Pacific Fleet released the following statement following the incidents:

"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 from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68). Search and rescue assets assigned to Carrier Strike Group 11 safely recovered all three crew members."

"Following the incident, separately, at 3:15 p.m., an F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter assigned to the 'Fighting Redcocks' of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 22 also went down in the waters of the South China Sea while conducting routine operations from Nimitz. Both crew members successfully ejected and were also safely recovered by search and rescue assets assigned to Carrier Strike Group 11."

"All personnel involved are safe and in stable condition. The cause of both incidents is currently under investigation."