A US Navy MH-60S Seahawk made a hard landing in mountainous terrain near Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California, on August 10, 2026, during a high-altitude training flight. Five US Navy personnel were subsequently recovered by two US Air Force HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopters.
According to an Air Combat Command release, the 88th Test and Evaluation Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, was notified by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at approximately 11:30 local time. The squadron recalled its crews, coordinated with the Navy unit involved, and tasked the 355th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron with generating the aircraft.
The 355th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron had two HH-60Ws ready in under 30 minutes despite being on a scheduled training day. One helicopter was at risk of being grounded by a recurring circuit breaker trip with no spare part on hand. Maintenance personnel diagnosed the master caution warning press-to-reset button as the cause and provided aircrew with a workaround to keep the system operational, allowing on-time departure.
The helicopters departed Nellis at 13:00 local time. Crews established two-way radio contact with the Navy personnel and identified them visually at 15:00. A pararescue team reached the landing zone and found no injuries, then had the helicopters reposition to a closer landing area rather than move the stranded Navy crew on foot.
All five personnel were extracted by 15:50 and delivered to their squadron's ramp at China Lake. The HH-60Ws returned to Nellis. AeroTime reported that the HH-60W is derived from the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk and built for combat rescue from the outset.
