 Passengers' hands were on sub controls
Collision to be focus of Navy's inquiry
Calling off search to yield endless grief
Navy rejected active-sonar recommendation in '90
Sub crash happened outside training area
Tribute to the Missing
Previous stories
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
Taking civilian guests on trips aboard Navy submarines is common in Hawai‘i and at other U.S. naval stations.
Last year, 13 trips carried 213 guests from Pearl Harbor, according to information provided by the Navy to the National Transportation Safety Board.
In 1999, there were 12 submarine trips with 278 guests. By comparison, 13 trips were launched from the Navy’s base in San Diego last year.
During these excursions, the submarine crews often conduct the same emergency drill that was responsible for the abrupt ascent of the Greeneville on Friday, said Navy Capt. Tom Kyle, deputy chief of staff for the Submarine Force commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor.
The "main emergency ballast blow" procedure propelled the Greeneville out of the water and into the Ehime Maru.
Kyle, who spoke to the press Tuesday night, would not comment on the Greeneville accident, but he said that if civilians are allowed to stand at the controls during the procedure, they are under strict supervision.
"The qualified (Navy) person would be in total control of that watch station regardless of whether the civilian or nonqualified person was there or not," Kyle said. "To set up that situation requires the approval of the diving officer of the watch and the officer of the deck to allow that non-qualified person to stand at that station."
[back to top] |
