A U.S. Navy airman is missing after an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter took an unscheduled swim in the Arabian Sea on Wednesday, and the search to find the fourth crew member is still underway.
The helicopter was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush and went into the water at about 11 a.m. local time, roughly 3:30 a.m. ET, as Trending Politics reported. Three of the four crew members were pulled from the water and are reportedly in stable condition aboard the carrier. The fourth crew member's name has not been released.
"US Navy assets in the region are currently searching for other aircrewman still missing," the U.S. 5th Fleet said in a statement on X. The Navy also said there was "no indication" the emergency was caused by hostile action, describing it instead as an "emergency water landing." That is one of those wonderful military phrases that makes plunging into the Arabian Sea sound like a routine line item on a checklist.
The Sea Hawk is one of the Navy's workhorse utility helicopters, used for everything from search and rescue to logistics to plane guard duty during carrier operations. This particular bird belonged to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 5, affectionately known as the "Nightdippers," based out of Naval Air Station Norfolk in Virginia. The Bush departed Norfolk on March 31, took the scenic route around the Cape of Good Hope, and has been operating in the Middle East since late April.
This marks the second U.S. military helicopter to go down in the region in recent weeks, which is not exactly the trend line you want to see. An Army AH-64 Apache crashed in the Gulf of Oman on June 9, with its crew rescued by a drone boat. President Donald Trump later said Iranian forces shot that aircraft out of the sky.
The timing of Wednesday's incident is notable. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were in Doha holding talks aimed at ending the war with Iran, while Iran's lead negotiator Kazem Gharibabadi also traveled to Qatar with his own team. Nothing says "let's negotiate" like having your helicopters fall out of the sky nearby.
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance delivered some pointed words to troops at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach. "If the Iranians want to rebuild their nuclear program, the president has options," Vance said, leaving those options to the imagination.
Iranian state television, never one to miss an opportunity, claimed a foreign container ship had run aground in the Strait of Hormuz after straying outside a Tehran approved shipping route. This conveniently supports Iran's disputed position that all vessels must follow its instructions in the strategic waterway, through which roughly one fifth of the world's oil and gas moves during peacetime. Iran has leaned on its ability to threaten the channel as leverage since the U.S. and Israel opened the war on February 28.
For now, the priority remains finding the missing airman. The cause of the helicopter's emergency landing is still under investigation.
Read more breaking news stories at: Trending Politics News
