I think you may have misunderstood freepersup. Had the pilot landed on the carrier deck, a helicopter rescue would not have been necessary. Freepersup was implying that since a helicopter rescue was required, the pilot did land in the ocean.
Due to copyright issues, the image at the provided link cannot be posted here at FR as it is an MSN / Newsweek publication.
Note the connection to Weibo, a Chinese website, in the photo credits.
The image is purported to have come off of a social media website and may not be authorized by the DOD.
Image caption:
An image circulating on social media websites on January 27, 2022, purportedly showed a US Navy F-35C Lightning II that crashed into the South China Sea on January 24, 2022.
*THIS >>> Weibo