Two U.S. Navy aircraft went down in separate incidents while conducting routine operations from an aircraft carrier in the South China Sea on Sunday, Navy officials said.

An F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet and a MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter went down within half an hour of each other during operations from the USS Nimitz on Sunday afternoon, the U.S. Pacific Fleet said in a statement.

The crew members of both aircraft were in stable condition after being rescued and the causes of both crashes were under investigation, the statement said.

The United States regularly deploys military vessels in the South China Sea, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, as part of what it calls freedom-of-navigation exercises. It’s an effort to counter China’s growing influence and presence there.

China claims most of the South China Sea, including some of the waters surrounding Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines. It has been expanding its military footprint in the sea by building and fortifying outposts and airstrips on disputed islands.

The USS Nimitz, the oldest American aircraft carrier in active service, has been conducting routine operations over the past few months in the South China Sea and the adjacent Philippine Sea.

A series of close calls in the Asia Pacific region between Chinese military aircraft and those of the United States and its allies over the past few years have exacerbated tensions.

The United States, Australia and Canada have accused Chinese fighter jets of flying dangerously close to their aircraft and performing other unsafe maneuvers. China has accused the three countries of conducting patrols that threatened its security.

Last week, Australia’s defense department said that a Chinese fighter jet had released flares dangerously close to an Australian air force aircraft that was conducting patrols over the sea. The Chinese military said the Australian aircraft had entered China’s airspace over the Paracel Islands, a disputed archipelago near Vietnam, without permission.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Yan Zhuang/U.S. Navy
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