Navy searching for sailor overboard off the California coast

The Navy is looking for a sailor thought to have fallen from the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt off the coast of Southern California.

The ship began the search Thursday “after a lookout spotted what appeared to be a person in the water,” according to a Navy statement released Friday.

One sailor was later unaccounted for, the statement said. 

The Navy has since scrambled three search and rescue helicopters and other Navy and Coast Guard ships to help in the search efforts.

The Roosevelt on Monday set sail from San Diego on a scheduled deployment.

The ship had been in San Diego since July following an outbreak aboard the aircraft carrier this spring that resulted in more than 1,000 sailors contracting the coronavirus and one dying, forcing the Roosevelt to dock in Guam for weeks.