A U.S. Navy helicopter and a fighter jet crashed within 30 minutes of each other during two entirely unrelated incidents in the South China Sea, the Pacific Fleet reported. A MH-60R Seahawk helicopter went down while conducting “routine operations” in the contested waters at around 2.45 p.m. local time, the Navy confirmed on social media. It added that a search-and-rescue team was scrambled and that all three crew members were recovered. But just half an hour later, a second incident saw an F/A-18F Super Hornet Fighter jet, also dispatched from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, go down in the same patch of water. Both pilots were rescued after successfully ejecting from the craft before it hit the water, the military confirmed, and said it is launching an investigation into the incident. Al

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