Washington

At least seven people were injured after a F-35 jet crashed on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier in the South China Sea.

The US Pacific Fleet said in a statement Monday that the pilot of a US F-35 jet was conducting routine flight operations when the crash happened. However, he was ejected safely and was recovered by a military helicopter and he is in stable condition, CNN reported.

Six others were injured on the deck of the carrier. Three required evacuations to a medical facility in Manila, Philippines, where they are in stable condition, the US Pacific Fleet said. The other three sailors were treated on the carrier and have been released.

The cause of what the statement called an "inflight mishap" is under investigation, reported CNN.

A spokesman for the Navy's 7th Fleet in Japan, Lt Mark Langford, said Tuesday the impact to the Vinson's flight deck was "superficial" and the warship and its air wing had resumed normal operations.

As for the F-35, "the status of the recovery is in progress," Langford said.

The crash is the first for an F-35C, the US Navy's variant of the single-engine stealth fighter, designed for operations off aircraft carriers.

The F-35A, flown by the Air Force, takes off and lands on conventional runways, and the F-35B, the Marine Corps version, is a short-takeoff vertical landing aircraft that can operate off the Navy's amphibious assault ships, reported CNN.

Versions of the F-35 are also flown by US allies and partners, including Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands and Israel. More countries have orders in for the jet.

Monday's crash in the South China Sea was the second of an F-35 this year.

On January 4, the pilot of a South Korean F-35 made an emergency "belly landing" at an airbase on Tuesday after its landing gear malfunctioned due to electronic issues, according to the South Korean Air Force.