Overview
- An MH-60S Seahawk made a hard landing in mountainous terrain near Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake on Aug. 10, 2026, prompting a rescue request to the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center.
- The 88th Test and Evaluation Squadron at Nellis AFB was notified around 11:30 a.m., and the 355th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron generated two HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopters in under 30 minutes.
- One HH-60W faced a recurring circuit-breaker trip that risked grounding the aircraft, so avionics technicians diagnosed the master-caution press-to-reset fault and provided a workaround to allow on-time takeoff.
- HH-60W crews departed Nellis at about 1 p.m., made radio contact and visual ID of the five Navy personnel around 3 p.m., and pararescue teams found no injuries before repositioning for a safer extraction.
- All five sailors were hoisted out and returned to their unit at China Lake by about 3:50 p.m., and the operation underscored the HH-60W’s extended range, hoist capability, and survival-location systems used in rescue missions.