US jet, copter crash in South China Sea

A US fighter jet and military helicopter crashed in the South China Sea on Sunday, during what the US Pacific Fleet described as “routine operations” involving the USS Nimitz carrier strike group.

A two-man F-18 fighter jet and an MH-60R multirole helicopter carrying five crew members “went down in the waters” of the disputed waterway in separate incidents during routine drills by the US Navy’s Carrier Strike Group 11, according to the US Pacific Fleet. All personnel were safely recovered.

“The cause of both incidents is currently under investigation,” it said in a Facebook post on Monday.

The crashes, which happened within 30 minutes of each other, took place in one of the world’s most contested waterways, where tensions between the Philippines and China continue to simmer over contesting sea claims.

Beijing continues to lay its sovereignty over the energy-rich waters despite a 2016 ruling by a United Nations-backed court that voided its claims.

The Southeast Asian nation has stepped up efforts to push back against China’s sweeping claims, conducting naval drills with allies including the US as it leans on multinational cooperation to bolster maritime security.

At 1,092 feet, the USS Nimitz is one of the US Navy’s nuclear-powered supercarriers and is built to deploy squadrons of fighter jets on short notice at sea, long-serving as a projection of American military might overseas.

The USS Harry S. Truman, another US aircraft carrier, similarly lost a fighter jet earlier this year when an F-18 slipped off the hangar deck while being towed. It lost another jet days later during a failed landing attempt.

Each F-18 fighter jet costs $67.4 million (P4 billion), according to the US Naval Air Systems Command. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio