WASHINGTON (AP) — A fighter jet and a helicopter based off the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz both crashed into the South China Sea within 30 minutes of each other, the Navy’s Pacific Fleet said.

The three crew members of the MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter were rescued on Sunday afternoon, and the two aviators in the F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet ejected and were recovered safely, and all five “are safe and in stable condition,” the fleet said in a statement.

The causes of the two crashes were under investigation, the statement said.

President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Tokyo on Monday, said the incidents could have been caused by “bad fuel.” He ruled out foul play and said there was “nothing to hide.”

  • IndustryStandard@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Cannot say anything for sure but this reeks of coverup. The Houthis downed two F18 jets by making the carrier perform fast evasive maneuvers against missiles. The US also lied about that initially.

    • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.worldOP
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      2 days ago

      It just doesn’t make sense to me absent there being wars that the US government is trying to keep secret, because even with Donald and his people being massively incompetent, the grunts didn’t just forget how to land planes on carriers overnight.

      • freagle@lemmygrad.ml
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        2 days ago

        It could be that they were doing illegal things and that an adversary hit them with some electronic warfare. Can’t go around admitting to doing illegal things, and certainly can’t accuse anyone of electronic warfare if you can’t tell who did it.

    • MoonMelon@lemmy.ml
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      2 days ago

      They could have just pushed them into the ocean instead of changing a flat tire because it’s faster, or some shit. It’s like the Adeptus Administratum.