Navy sailor who died after fall aboard carrier near San Diego ID’d as Chicago man

CORONADO, Calif. — Military officials say a Navy sailor died after a fall aboard an aircraft carrier at Naval Station North Island in Coronado, California.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports the 21-year-old man fell from an aircraft elevator on the USS Nimitz late Friday. He died at a hospital early Saturday.

The Navy Twitter feed, flynavy, later identified the man as Juan Jose Garcia-Herrera, “a native of Chicago.” The Twitter feed says the accident is under investigation.

Nimitz spokesman Ensign Bill Petkovski tells the Navy Times that the crew was making a port visit in San Diego following “routine operations” when the accident occurred.

The Nimitz left its Bremerton, Washington, homeport on Sept. 16 to conduct pre-deployment training off the California coast.

The Navy Times reports that Garcia-Herrera “enlisted in the Navy on Jan. 23, 2017.”

Contributing: Navy Times, The San Diego Union-Tribune