Alwaght - The US military announced
that an American warplane smashed after taking off from a carrier in the
Persian Gulf. Also another Marine chopper has disappeared in Nepal.
The
US warplane that crashed was a F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet that took off
from the USS Theodore Roosevelt at around 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
The US Navy did not announce the cause
of the crash but suggested it was an accident.
“The
crash was not a result of hostile activity,” the US Navy said in a statement
that was issued by Fifth Fleet, which is responsible for the area where the USS
Theodore Roosevelt is deployed.
The
Navy is currently investigating the cause of the crash.
It
was reported that the two personnel from the fighter jet ejected and were
quickly recovered by search and rescue personnel from the carrier.
The
aircraft carrier was in the Northern Persian Gulf, to support the US-led
airstrikes against the ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
The
aircraft belongs to the Strike Fighter Squadron 211 based at Naval Air Station
Oceana, Virginia, and is assigned to Carrier Air Wing One.
Chopper vanished
Meanwhile,
the US military also announced that one of its Marine helicopters went missing
on Tuesday in Nepal.
The
UH-1Y Huey with two Nepalese soldiers and six US Marines on board disappeared
over Charikot, Nepal, at about 10:00 p.m. local time, according to US Pacific
Command spokesman Army Maj. Dave Eastburn.
Pentagon
spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said the US military is hopeful that the
missing helicopter landed and is out of communication.
A
nearby Indian helicopter heard radio conversation about a possible fuel problem
from the copter, which was in Nepal to deliver aid to victims of a recent
earthquake, Warren told the Associated Press.
As
no smoke was seen in the area hopes remained that the helicopter did not crash
and just lost contact.
A
90-minute search was conducted in the area that the UH-1Y Huey had last been
seen by a Nepalese air brigade but nothing was found, Warren said
As
it was getting dark, members of the Nepalese Army started search on foot and
were heading for the second aid location to check out if it landed there.
The
incident occurred on a day that a 7.3 magnitude aftershock rocked the country
following last month’s 7.8 magnitude quake.
The aftershock was said to be the
strongest since the time.
