President Donald Trump on Monday suggested that the recent crashes of two U.S. Navy aircraft in the South China Sea could be tied to “bad fuel.”
When asked by a reporter aboard Air Force One if he suspected “foul play” in connection with the crashes, Trump said he didn’t and offered another possible explanation.
“They’re going to let me know pretty soon,” the president said. “I think they should be able to find out. It could be bad fuel. I mean, it’s possible it’s bad fuel. Very unusual that that would happen.”
Two unnamed sources who spoke with USNI News, the news service of the U.S. Naval Institute, confirmed that contaminated fuel is being looked at as a possible cause.
A full Navy investigation will likely take months to complete.
The two aircraft—a MH-60R Seahawk helicopter and an F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet—crashed within a half hour of each other on Sunday afternoon. They were conducting “routine operations” from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz when they went down, according to a statement from the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
All crewmembers from both aircraft were rescued after the crashes.
The Seahawk was assigned to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 73, while the F/A-18 was assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 22.
According to USNI News, both the Seahawk and the F/A-18 use JP-5, the Navy’s at-sea jet fuel. The fuel is stored and pumped from tanks aboard Nimitz.
Nimitz is returning to Naval Base Kitsap in Washington state after being deployed to the Middle East over the summer as part of an international response to attacks by Yemen’s Houthis against commercial shipping in and around the Red Sea.
