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Five aircrew were rescued after a U.S. Navy helicopter when it went down in the Philippine Sea, the commander of U.S. 7th Fleet said in a statement.

The MH-60 craft assigned to the USS Blue Ridge “went down while conducting routine operations,” at around 5:15 p.m. local time (4:15 a.m. ET) the statement said.

"Three were transported by a Japanese helicopter to Naval Hospital Okinawa for evaluation," it said.

"Three aircrew were recovered by a Japan Air Self-Defense Force UH-60 search and rescue helicopter, and the other two were recovered by a USS Blue Ridge MH-60S helicopter," it added.

Japanese forces, along with the country's coastguard helped U.S. forces with the search.