Did US Navy helicopter crash in Red Sea? CENTCOM responds to media reports
CENTCOM said that all US military assets and personnel operating in the region remained secure and accounted for
CENTCOM has officially denied reports from Iranian media alleging that a US Navy helicopter crashed into the Red Sea after declaring an emergency. The US Central Command confirmed through a social media post that all American military assets and personnel operating in the Middle East are safe and accounted for, directly contradicting the claims made by outlets such as IRIB and Tasnim News Agency. These Iranian reports detailed the alleged transmission of an emergency transponder code by a Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk and its subsequent disappearance from flight tracking data. Concurrently, U.S. President Donald Trump commented on the situation, expressing optimism about a swift resolution to the conflict with Iran and reiterating the U.S. commitment to preventing the nation from acquiring nuclear weapons.
CENTCOM has officially denied reports from Iranian media alleging that a US Navy helicopter crashed into the Red Sea after declaring an emergency. The US Central Command confirmed through a social media post that all American military assets and personnel operating in the Middle East are safe and accounted for, directly contradicting the claims made by outlets such as IRIB and Tasnim News Agency. These Iranian reports detailed the alleged transmission of an emergency transponder code by a Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk and its subsequent disappearance from flight tracking data. Concurrently, U.S. President Donald Trump commented on the situation, expressing optimism about a swift resolution to the conflict with Iran and reiterating the U.S. commitment to preventing the nation from acquiring nuclear weapons.
CENTCOM has officially denied reports from Iranian media alleging that a US Navy helicopter crashed into the Red Sea after declaring an emergency. The US Central Command confirmed through a social media post that all American military assets and personnel operating in the Middle East are safe and accounted for, directly contradicting the claims made by outlets such as IRIB and Tasnim News Agency. These Iranian reports detailed the alleged transmission of an emergency transponder code by a Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk and its subsequent disappearance from flight tracking data. Concurrently, U.S. President Donald Trump commented on the situation, expressing optimism about a swift resolution to the conflict with Iran and reiterating the U.S. commitment to preventing the nation from acquiring nuclear weapons.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) has rejected reports in Iranian media claiming that a US Navy helicopter crashed into the Red Sea after declaring an emergency.
In a fact-check post on social media, CENTCOM said that all US military assets and personnel operating in the region remained secure and accounted for.
Several Iranian state media outlets, including the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), had reported that an American naval aircraft, a Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk, had gone down while flying near Yanbu, a city on Saudi Arabia’s western coast.
IRIB reported that the aircraft transmitted squawk code 7700, the international aviation transponder code used to indicate a general emergency, before allegedly crashing into the Red Sea.
According to the Tasnim News Agency, flight-tracking data showed the helicopter flying at an altitude of approximately 475 feet when the emergency was declared.
The report added that the helicopter's displayed altitude subsequently fell to zero before it disappeared from the tracking service.
In a post on X, CENTCOM rejected these claims and said: "All U.S. military aircraft and personnel across the Middle East are safe and accounted for".
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said that the war with Iran would end soon, adding that the only question was whether it would happen the “nice way” or the “not-so-nice way”.
Speaking at Sparrows Point in Maryland, Trump said the US was doing “extremely well” in Iran and described the Islamic Republic as the former “bully of the Middle East”.
“They were the bully of the Middle East. They’re not so much the bully anymore, but we have to finish up. And it’s only a question of which way do we want to do it, the nice way or the not-so-nice way? And pretty soon you’ll find out,” Trump said.
He also asserted that the US Navy was working to ensure that Iran would not obtain a nuclear weapon.
“Our Navy is leading the way in ensuring that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, and that’s something we’ve been saying. That will never happen; that will never happen. That’s already fait accompli,” Trump said.