Navy Lends USAF A Hand For Grim Task
Military Sealift Command (MSC) rescue and salvage ship USNS
Grasp completed recovery operations for two US Air Force F-15C
fighter jets in the Gulf of Mexico March 22.
As ANN reported, the jets
collided over the Gulf approximately 50 miles from Florida's Eglin
Air Force Base on February 20. Recovery efforts began March 1, when
Grasp arrived in the vicinity of the crash site to locate the
wreckage, and ended March 22 when the last recoverable debris from
the second aircraft was lifted onto the ship's weather deck.
Salvage operations, which could normally have been conducted
within a week, were delayed by severe weather conditions that twice
sent the ship back to port.
The first aircraft was recovered March 12 from a depth of 177
feet and the second aircraft was recovered March 22 from a depth of
185 feet. More than half of each aircraft was salvaged including
their engines, data collecting devices and main computers. These
items are vital to the Air Force's investigation to determine the
cause of the crash.
The salvage operations were conducted jointly by Grasp's crew of
28 civil service mariners and 20 Sailors from Mobile Diving and
Salvage Unit (MDSU) 2, based at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek,
VA. MDSU-2 is not permanently assigned to Grasp, which also carries
a detachment of three Sailors to perform communications
functions.
Since the exact position of the
wreckage was unknown, the ship's civilian crew worked in
cooperation with Sailors of MDSU-2 to locate the debris by
combining the ship's navigational information with data obtained
from the dive unit's locating equipment. Upon arrival at each site,
Grasp's civilian crew anchored the ship directly above the wreckage
and the divers submerged to prepare the debris for recovery.
Grasp's 40-ton boom then lifted the wreckage out of the water using
a cable that was attached by the divers.
"This recovery operation was extremely difficult," said Grasp's
civilian master, Capt. Jose Delfaus. "The wreckage was scattered
across a wide area and the divers had to overcome dangerous depths
and diving conditions. Some of the wreckage was so entangled that
it took several dives to complete the mission."
Four Air Force personnel, including a civilian wreckage
photographer, were aboard Grasp during the salvage operations to
conduct the initial research and data analysis about the crash.
The crash claimed the life of one of the two pilots; both were
recovered the day of the accident. The jets were assigned to the
33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin Air Force Base.
Grasp is one of MSC's four 255-foot salvage and recovery ships
that are able to deploy rapidly to recover objects from the sea,
tow stranded vessels and provide firefighting assistance.
(Aero-News thanks Laura M. Seal, Military Sealift Command
Public Affairs)