After more than 102 hours of continuous search and rescue efforts covering over 14,000 square miles (36,000 square kilometres), the US Navy has suspended search efforts in the Arabian Sea in an attempt to locate the crewmember of an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter that crashed into the water earlier this month.
The extensive search for the missing crewmember involved ships and aircraft from two carrier strike groups, two patrol and reconnaissance squadrons flying P-8A Poseidon aircraft, and multiple US Air Force aircraft.
The navy has identified Commander Gabriel Edwards, commanding officer of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron Five (HSC-5), as the missing crewmember following a helicopter’s emergency landing in the Arabian Sea on the morning (local time) of July 1.
The incident occurred when an HSC-5 MH-60S Seahawk assigned to the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush went down in the Arabian Sea within the US Fifth Fleet area of operations.
Three of the helicopter's four crewmembers were safely rescued and returned to Bush while Commander Edwards was declared missing.
US Fifth Fleet officials said it is not believed that the loss of the helicopter was due to hostile action.
This is the second reported loss of a US military helicopter in the region in recent weeks.
In early June, a US Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopter went down off the coast of Oman during combat operations. Both the pilot and the co-pilot/gunner were rescued with the aid of a US Navy unmanned surface vehicle.
