A routine deployment turned into a search-and-rescue operation in the Arabian Sea before dawn Tuesday.
What happened
An MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 5, operating from the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush, made an emergency water landing in the Arabian Sea, Navy Times reported. Four crew members were aboard. Three were recovered and are in stable condition aboard the carrier; a search was underway for the fourth, who remained missing as of Tuesday afternoon, according to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command.
No sign of hostile action
The Navy's 5th Fleet said there was "no indication the emergency was caused by hostile action," and that the cause is under investigation, Stars and Stripes reported. The Navy did not release further details on what prompted the landing and has not identified the crew.
Context
The George H.W. Bush and its strike group deployed from Norfolk in late March and reached the region in April as part of the U.S. presence in the Middle East, where roughly 50,000 American service members are operating amid a fragile calm following exchanges of strikes between the U.S. and Iran earlier this year. The 5th Fleet, based in Bahrain, oversees Navy operations across the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, the Red Sea and the northern Arabian Sea. Search operations for the missing aircrewman were continuing, the Navy said, with no timeline given.
