A US Navy fighter and a helicopter crashed into the South China Sea in separate incidents while operating off an aircraft carrier on Sunday.
A Sea Hawk helicopter, assigned to the Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 73, went down while conducting routine operations from the USS Nimitz, the US Pacific Fleet said.
Half an hour later, an F/A-18F Super Hornet from Strike Fighter Squadron 22, operating from the same carrier, also crashed.
The US Navy did not give the location of the crashes.
It said that all five personnel on board the aircraft – three on the helicopter and two on the planes – had been rescued and were in a “safe and stable” condition.
“The cause of both incidents is currently under investigation,” said the Pacific Fleet.
