US fighter jet, navy chopper crash mysteriously in 30 minutes in South China Sea

Two US Navy aircraft, an MH-60R Seahawk helicopter and an F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet, crashed in separate incidents in the South China Sea on Sunday, within a span of 30 minutes, raising several questions. The US Navy has acknowledged the crashes but has not disclosed what the aircraft were doing in the geopolitically sensitive South China Sea at the time. However, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday said the aircraft crashed during a military exercise.

China's foreign ministry also said it would be willing to provide humanitarian assistance to the US following the crashes, spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a press conference on Monday, reported Reuters.

The US Navy has launched investigations to determine the causes of the crashes.

According to the US Pacific Fleet, the MH-60R Seahawk helicopter, assigned to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 73, known as the "Battle Cats", went down around 2.45 pm (local time) while conducting routine operations from the USS Nimitz.