Trump's explanation after the US Navy aircraft carrier USS Nimitz lost a Super Hornet fighter jet and a Sea Hawk helicopter in just 30 minutes
An MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter from Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 71, (left), and an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter from Squadron 14 operate from the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) in the Pacific Ocean on Aug. 2, 2024. Illustrative image. PHOTO: US Navy/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutter / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia
US President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Tokyo on Monday that incidents in which the US Navy lost military aircraft could have been caused by “poor fuel”, reports Euronews.
A fighter jet and a helicopter from the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier crashed in the South China Sea within 30 minutes of each other, the US Navy's Pacific Fleet said earlier.
The three crew members of the MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter were rescued Sunday afternoon, and the two pilots of the F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet ejected and were recovered. All five are safe and in stable condition, the Pacific Fleet said in a statement.
The causes of the two accidents are under investigation, the US Navy also reported.
President Donald Trump said the two incidents could have been caused by “poor fuel”.
He ruled out the possibility of dangerous action and also told the reporters he was traveling with that there was “nothing to hide” on the subject.
The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz is currently on its way back to its home port of Naval Base Kitsap in Washington state after being deployed to the Middle East for most of the summer as part of the US response to Yemen's Houthi rebels' attacks on merchant ships.
The aircraft carrier is on its last mission before being decommissioned.
Another aircraft carrier, the USS Harry S. Truman, has had a series of accidents in recent months while deployed in the Middle East.
In December, the guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg mistakenly shot down an F/A-18 from the aircraft carrier Truman.
Then, in April, another F/A-18 fighter jet slid off the deck of the aircraft carrier Truman and fell into the Red Sea.
And in May, an F/A fighter jet landing on an aircraft carrier in the Red Sea plunged into the water after apparently missing the steel cables used to stop the aircraft on landing, an incident that forced the two pilots to eject.
No US Navy personnel died in any of these incidents. The results of the investigations into these accidents have not yet been made public.
