Seven US sailors were harmed Monday when a warrior stream had a “arrival accident” on the deck of the aircraft transporter USS Carl Vinson in the South China Sea, authorities said.
The pilot of the F-35 Lighting II warplane was recuperated by a helicopter in the wake of catapulting and is in stable condition.
The episode happened during “routine flight tasks,” the Navy said.
Three of the harmed sailors were taken to a clinical office in Manila, while the other four were treated aboard the boat.
Three of the four have since been released.
The situation with the Lockheed Martin-made F-35, assessed to cost around $94 million, is unclear.
The USS Carl Vinson is important for a transporter strike bunch conveyed toward the South China Sea that has been leading maritime activities with the USS Abraham Lincoln since Sunday in the midst of tense relations among China and Taiwan.
“The ships and aircraft of the two carrier strike gatherings, with more than 14,000 Sailors and Marines, will lead composed surface and air activities in a complex maritime environment to show the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Joint Force’s capacity to convey a strong oceanic force,” the Navy said in an assertion Monday.
The mishap occurred a day after Taiwan actuated its air defense missile system when 39 Chinese warplanes entered Taipei’s Air Defense Identification Zone on Sunday.
It was the biggest invasion into Taiwan’s airspace by Chinese warplanes since last October, when China approved almost 150 trips over the island nation.