The U.S. Navy has ended a massive rescue effort for a sailor missing after an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter made an emergency water landing in the Arabian Sea, officials said.
The helicopter, assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 5 and embarked on the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush, went down about 3:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, July 1, during operations in U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility. Four crew members were aboard. Three were recovered and later described as stable aboard the carrier. The fourth was never found.
U.S. 5th Fleet said the search lasted more than 102 hours and covered more than 14,000 square miles. Navy and Air Force aircraft, ships from the George H.W. Bush and Abraham Lincoln strike groups, destroyers, P-8 Poseidons and additional air assets took part. “The efforts concluded following an extensive search by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force,” the fleet said.
Officials said there was no indication of hostile fire. The cause of the emergency landing remains under investigation. The sailor’s name was withheld pending notification of next of kin, standard Navy practice.
The loss raised the official U.S. death toll in the war with Iran to 14. The theater has stretched from the Arabian Sea through the Strait of Hormuz, with repeated naval encounters and earlier episodes that included a leaked live rescue of a downed pilot. Vice President JD Vance has said Washington still seeks a diplomatic path; President Trump has said he wants a deal. Operations and casualties have continued.
The MH-60S is a workhorse used for combat support, logistics, search and rescue and special operations. Investigators will examine what forced the predawn ditching. Three of the recovered sailors were reported injured in the landing itself.
The scale of the search underscored the service’s stated rule that it does not abandon its people while any reasonable chance remains. After more than four days and a search area larger than many U.S. states, that chance was judged gone. Families and the public now wait on the investigation and on the formal identification that follows next-of-kin notification.
