Civilian at helm position says he heard thump

Jack Clary, of Stow, Mass., said on the television show "Good Morning, America," that he was one of two civilians who were at the submarine's controls when the accident happened.

He recounted how the captain of the submarine, Cmdr. Scott Waddle, shouted, "What the hell was that?" after the submarine apparently struck the Ehime Maru. He said the yeoman who was helping him literally dragged him off the chair he was sitting at to take over the controls.

Clary said while he was at the controls, the yeoman had his hands entwined over his, just as someone might do when teaching a child to ride a bicycle.

Clary was one of 16 civilians aboard the submarine when it rose out of the water, hitting the boat. They were part of a community relations tour.

Another civilian, John Hall of Texas, earlier described how he was at the ballast controls. He denied the civilians had any role in the sinking of the Ehime Maru.

After the accident, Clary said he saw a diver in trunks in the submarine, but he said he and other civilians were later told there was concern water would flood into the sub if a hatch was to be opened because of choppy conditions.

Clary, a sports writer, said he felt badly for the crew and the commander. He said some of the civilians later cried when they learned of the accident.

An underwater survey continues this morning of the Ehime Maru, which was found at a depth of 2,033 feet nine miles south of Diamond Head.

The Navy's USS Salvor is conducting operations in the area with the Deep Drone, a remotely operated submersible, and a side-scan sonar that can map the features of the ocean bottom.

Another submersible, the Super Scorpio II, is undergoing repairs at Pearl Harbor. Late Friday night, the Scorpio II found the Eihe Maru around 1,000 yards from where the collision was reported by the USS Greeneville.

The submersible captured video showing the vessel sitting nearly upright, largely intact, but there have been no sign of the missing.