An MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to the Indians of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 6 prepares to land on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68). The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility conducting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts.
Search and rescue efforts for the remaining two crew members involved in a U.S. Navy MH-60S Knighthawk helicopter crash were suspended Monday at about 3 p.m. Bahrain time, according to a spokeswoman at Naval Support Activity Bahrain.
Three crew members have been rescued.
Navy officials have concluded that given the time elapsed since the incident, aircrew survivability was extremely unlikely. The location of the crash site is known, and an extensive area has been searched multiple times by various ships and aircraft.
The Knighthawk helicopter, attached to North Island’s Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 6 in San Diego, crashed in the central Red Sea on Sunday after conducting a landing on the deck of guided-missile destroyer USS William P. Lawrence (DDG 110) at approximately 12:40 p.m. Bahrain time.
Naval Air Station Fallon spokesman Zip Upham said HSC 6 completed two weeks of sustainment training at Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center in February as part of Carrier Air Wing 11, which is stationed at Naval Air Station Lemoore. Upham said he does not know if the same crew participated in the training.
The following assisted in the search and rescue: USS Nimitz, USS William P. Lawrence , USS Princeton , USS Shoup, USS Stockdale (DDG 106) and USNS Rainier (T-AOE 7) as well as MH-60S Knighthawks from HSC-6, MH-60R Sea Hawks from Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 75 and several P-3s from Patrol Squadron (VP) 47 and a U.S. Air Force HC-130.
The crash was not due to any sort of hostile activity.
The Navy is currently conducting an investigation to determine the cause of the incident.
Names of the service members are currently being withheld pending notification of next-of-kin.
With information from Navy News Service.