SOUTH CHINA SEA — A U.S. Navy F-35C Lightning II crashed while attempting to land on the USS Carl Vinson, injuring seven sailors, according to a statement by the U.S. Pacific Fleet Command.
The Monday statement said the fighter jet was “was conducting routine flight operations” when the ‘landing mishap’ occurred, and “The pilot safely ejected from the aircraft and was recovered via U.S. military helicopter.” Three of the injured sailors had to be evacuated for treatment in the Philippines, where they have been described as “stable.” The South China Sea has frequently played host to naval activity in recent years as China has asserted claims over almost all of the area by building up and militarizing islands and reefs, while the U.S. has sought to assert its right to operate freely in what are international waters with carrier deployments.
In line with that agenda, the USS Carl Vinson was operating alongside the USS Abraham Lincoln Strike Group on Sunday, having come from a joint exercise with a Japanese helicopter destroyer in the Philippine Sea on Saturday.
On the same day, emphasizing the multifaceted struggle for power in the area, China flew 39 planes into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense, the second-largest such incursion in one day.
