A helicopter team based in San Diego crashed in the South China Sea on Sunday while operating from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, according to the Navy.
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All three members aboard the Navy MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter were safely recovered, US Pacific Fleet said. The aircraft is part of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 73, also known as the Battle Cats. The squadron’s home base is North Island Naval Air Station.
Pacific Fleet also said that a pair of USS Nimitz aviators in an F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet ejected during flight operations but were recovered and found to be in stable condition.
Both incidents are under investigation.
The 50-year-old Nimitz is the oldest aircraft carrier in the Navy. It left its home port in Bremerton, Washington, in March on its final deployment and spent much of the summer in the Middle East, the Associated Press said. The ship, which operated out of San Diego from 2001 to 2012, is currently headed home, the US Naval Institute reported. Nimitz is likely to stop in San Diego before it goes to Washington.
It is common for a carrier that’s based in one city to carry sailors and aircraft that are stationed elsewhere.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
