US Navy Investigates Fuel After Loss of Two Aircraft from USS Nimitz

The U.S. Pacific fleet announced late on October 26 that it had lost two aircraft, a helicopter and a fighter jet, while on routine missions from the carrier USS Nimitz. Speaking to reporters, Donald Trump said the Navy was investigating the fuel after the two aircraft went down within 30 minutes of each other on Sunday.

A U.S. Navy MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter was the first to go down. The report said it was lost around 2:45 pm local time. It was in the area of the South China Sea, conducting routine operations, when it was lost. A search and rescue team safely recovered the three crewmembers who were aboard the helicopter.

While they were recovering the helicopter crew, an F/A-18F Super Hornet also operating from the Nimitz declared an emergency, and the two crewmembers ejected. The plane was also lost in the South China Sea, while the crew was safely recovered by a search and rescue team.

Asked about the incident while traveling from Malaysia to Japan, Donald Trump told reporters that the incident was “very unusual.” He went on to say, “They think it might be bad fuel. We’re gonna find out.”

The incident came as the Nimitz is on her last tour of duty, as the carrier, which was commissioned in 1975, is scheduled to stand down in 2026. She deployed in March from the U.S. West Coast and spent most of her tour in the Middle East during the battle and security efforts against the Houthis. At the beginning of this month, it was reported that she had repositioned into Asia and the South China Sea region. 

The Navy’s current plan is for the Nimitz to return to Newport News, Virginia, in 2026, where she will begin the process of standing down. By 2027, she is scheduled to move into the shipyard to begin defueling her nuclear plant and be officially deactivated.  

The Navy completed the sale of the first nuclear carrier, USS Enterprise, after years of inactivity, and she is due to begin a complex dismantling process. The Navy has said the process followed for the Enterprise was a prototype for the subsequent carriers. Deactivation of the Nimitz was delayed from 2025 to 2026, but her sistership, the nuclear carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, is to follow in 2027. Further, the third ship of the subclass, USS Carl Vinson, is also expected to follow shortly thereafter, as she is only five years younger than the Ike.