Two California-based naval aircraft crashed Sunday while conducting “routine operations” in the South China Sea, military officials said.
A U.S. Navy MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter, assigned to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 73 (HSM-73) of Naval Air Station North Island in Coronado, went down in the waters of the South China Sea around 2:45 p.m. local time Sunday. Search and rescue crews successfully recovered all three crew members on board safely.
Within 30 minutes, a second apparently unrelated incident was reported around 3:15 p.m. after an F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet also went down in the waters nearby. The F/A-18F is assigned to Naval Air Station Lemoore-based Strike Fighter Squadron 2 (VFA-2). Both crew members were also rescued after successfully ejecting from the aircraft.

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