U.S. Navy calls off search for missing sailor after helicopter crash in Arabian Sea
The U.S. military has ended its search for a sailor who went missing following a helicopter crash in the Arabian Sea last week, after more than four days of sweeping operations across thousands of square miles of ocean, officials said Sunday.
U.S. Naval Forces Central Command announced in a statement that the search effort would be formally suspended Sunday afternoon, following what it described as an extensive joint search by Navy and Air Force assets across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.
The sailor was part of a four-person crew aboard an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush. The helicopter made an emergency water landing on July 1, and three of the four crew members were rescued shortly after. The missing sailor has not been publicly identified, pending notification of next of kin and a 24-hour waiting period, the Navy said.
Search crews covered more than 14,000 square miles over 102 hours, deploying multiple aircraft carriers, guided-missile destroyers, helicopter squadrons, anti-submarine squadrons, and Air Force planes. Despite the extensive operation, no trace of the missing crew member was found.
The military said there was "no indication" the helicopter was brought down by hostile fire, though the incident comes amid heightened tensions in the region. The USS George H.W. Bush, one of two U.S. carriers currently deployed in the Middle East, has been operating there since late April as part of ongoing U.S. military posture in the region.
The loss adds to a tally of U.S. aircraft losses in the broader campaign known as Operation Epic Fury, which began in late February. As of a mid-May update to Congress, the U.S. had reported 42 fixed-wing or rotor aircraft lost in the operation. In early June, a U.S. Apache helicopter was shot down by an Iranian drone; both crew members were rescued.
The suspension of the search underscores the challenges of maritime rescue operations in the vast and shifting environment of the Arabian Sea, and raises questions about the risks faced by U.S. aircrews operating in the region. The Navy did not say whether any investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.