CENTCOM Rejects Report of US Navy Helicopter Being Downed in Red Sea
06 Oct 202617:55 PM
CENTCOM Rejects Report of US Navy Helicopter Being Downed in Red Sea
US Central Command (CENTCOM) has refuted Iranian media claims that a US Navy MH-60R helicopter crashed in the Red Sea following an emergency broadcast, calling the assertions false.

In response to Iran’s Fars news agency and IRIB, CENTCOM said that operational assets in the region remain operational and unharmed.

“All U.S. military aircraft and personnel across the Middle East are safe and accounted for,” CENTCOM stated.

On Monday, however, live flight-tracking services recorded an emergency involving a US Navy MH-60R helicopter over the Red Sea off the coast of Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.

According to Flightradar24 data, the multi-mission aircraft transmitted squawk code 7700, the international aviation signal for a general emergency, while navigating regional maritime corridors.

Public flight-tracking data indicated a sharp drop in airspeed immediately following the emergency alert, after which the transponder signal vanished entirely from public radar tracking screens.