A U.S. Navy helicopter and a fighter jet crashed in the South China Sea in two separate incidents within 30 minutes of each other on Sunday, the Navy's Pacific Fleet said.
The big picture: The crews of both the MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter and the F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter that crashed 30 minutes later were all "safe and in stable condition" and "the cause of both incidents is currently under investigation," per U.S. Pacific Fleet posts to its social media channels.
Driving the news: The helicopter that's assigned to the "Battle Cats" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 73 "went down in the waters of the South China Sea while conducting routine operations from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz" about 2:45pm local time, according to the posts.
- After its three crew members were rescued, an F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter assigned to the "Fighting Redcocks" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 22 crashed in the sea at 3:15pm "while conducting routine operations from Nimitz," the posts said.
- "Both crew members successfully ejected and were also safely recovered by search and rescue assets assigned to Carrier Strike Group 11."
Context: The South China Sea is a key shipping channel and China's ruling Communist Party claims to own most of it, an assertion neighboring countries dispute. The U.S. military has over the years conducted drills with allies in the region.
- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines have all laid claims to it, resulting in tensions with Beijing in recent years. Beijing has bolstered its military presence and harassed other vessels in the disputed region, Axios' Colin Demarest notes.
Zoom out: The incidents come as President Trump tours Asia, where he's expected to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week.
Editor's note: This story was updated to include additional context.
