Search and rescue (SAR) efforts for the remaining two crew members involved in a US Navy MH-60S Knighthawk helicopter crash were suspended on September 23rd at approximately 3pm Bahrain local time, according to a statement issued by US Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain.
The statement added that the crash was not due to any sort of hostile activity. The Navy is currently conducting an investigation to determine the cause of the incident. Names of the service members are currently being withheld pending notification of next-of-kin.
Navy officials have concluded that given the time elapsed since the incident, aircrew survivability was extremely unlikely. The location of the crash site is known, and an extensive area has been searched multiple times by various ships and aircraft.
The Knighthawk helicopter, attached to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 6, crashed in the central Red Sea Sept. 22, after conducting a landing on the deck of the guided-missile destroyer USS William P. Lawrence (DDG 110) at approximately 12:40 pm Bahrain time.
USS Nimitz (CVN 68), USS William P. Lawrence (DDG 110), USS Princeton (CG 59), USS Shoup (DDG 86), USS Stockdale (DDG 106) and USNS Rainier (T-AOE 7) as well as MH-60S
Knighthawks from HSC-6, MH-60R Sea Hawks from Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 75 and several P-3s from Patrol Squadron (VP) 47 and a US Air Force HC-130 took part in the search and rescue.