The Navy's Pacific Fleet says a fighter jet and a helicopter based off the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz both crashed into the South China Sea within 30 minutes of each other.

A fighter jet and a helicopter based off the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz both crashed into the South China Sea within 30 minutes of each other, the Navy’s Pacific Fleet said.

  • manxu@piefed.socialEnglish
    0·
    8 days ago

    Thank goodness they fired all those terrible DEI hires and now there are only competent and qualified people in the US Military, starting with the absolutely not an alcoholic Pete Hegseth! /s

  • Jessica@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    0·
    8 days ago

    Very odd. Let’s give them more money so they can do it again, but with more expensive aircraft.

    Also…

    President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Tokyo on Monday, said the incidents could have been caused by “bad fuel.” He ruled out foul play and said there was “nothing to hide.”

    Bad. Fuel.

    • ChicoSuave@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      8 days ago

      It’s becoming more and more apparent you can just tell him anything and he’ll repeat it with a confident tone.

      • MajorasTerribleFate@lemmy.zipEnglish
        0·
        8 days ago

        It’s not whether the explanation is at all possible, but whether it is the most reasonable or most likely explanation. “Maybe bad fuel” is not “we investigated and found it was likely bad fuel”, it was just a guy spitballing, or repeating someone else’s random thought.

        Trump is not known for making credible statements of any kind, let alone for being regularly correct in early appraisals of complex technical/mechanical situations.

        So, could it be “bad fuel?” Sure, why not, I don’t know anything about military aviation troubleshooting. But is Trump posing the possibility a satisfying explanation? Not in the least.

    • Albbi@lemmy.caEnglish
      0·
      8 days ago

      If Trump had said there would be a full investigation, I’d assume there was nothing to hide. “Bad Fuel” and “nothing to hide” makes me think the Captain was drunk and they’re hiding something.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    8 days ago

    President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Tokyo on Monday, said the incidents could have been caused by “bad fuel.” He ruled out foul play and said there was “nothing to hide.”

    If that was the actual problem…

    trump has no idea how bad that is, and how insane it is to say it…

    It’s probably an excuse he thought of in the moment and just a lie, but it’s a really bad sign if true. Like, helicopters don’t use jet fuel.

      • chocrates@piefed.worldEnglish
        0·
        8 days ago

        I was gonna say, they have a turbine as well as the rotor right? I don’t know what makes jet fuel special, but helicopters surely would need it too

        • remotelove@lemmy.caEnglish
          0·
          8 days ago

          MH-60s have 3 engines. 2 for the main rotor and 1 to provide air to start the two main engines them and provide initial electrical power. All three run on JP-5, which is jet fuel. (I was stationed in a helicopter squadron for a few years.)

          JP-5 is a kerosene based fuel, and not very special if I remember correctly.

          I don’t know if it was the case here, but water in the fuel is a common issue and it should be tested for on a regular basis.

        • NOT_RICK@lemmy.worldEnglish
          0·
          8 days ago

          Yeah any decent sized helicopter is run off of jet turbines. They provide the power to rotate the rotor. Jet fuel burns hotter, is less prone to freezing, and is more energy dense than gasoline or most other types of petrol fuel.