A US Navy MH-60S Seahawk helicopter assigned to the aircraft carrier United States Ship (USS) George H.W. Bush conducted an emergency water landing in the Arabian Sea on Wednesday, leaving one crew member missing and three others injured.
According to a statement released by the United States (US) Navy’s Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, search and rescue operations are actively underway to locate the missing service member while three injured personnel are now in a stable condition.
The military clarified that the helicopter went into the water at approximately 11 am local time, noting that there were no initial indications that the incident was caused by hostile action.
An official investigation into the cause of the emergency landing has been launched.
It may be noted that the aircraft was deployed aboard the USS George H.W. Bush, which has maintained a primary carrier presence in regional waters since late April.
The emergency landing adds to a growing tally of aviation losses for US forces during recent regional operations.
As of mid-May, briefings to Congress indicated that the US military had lost 42 fixed-wing or rotor aircraft during Operation Epic Fury against Iran.
This figure excludes a US Apache helicopter allegedly shot down by an Iranian drone in early June besides a number of jets allegedly shot down by Iranian forces.
