THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 26, 1996 TAG: 9607260433
SECTION: FRONT LOCAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ABOARD THE OAK HILL LENGTH: 138 lines
Nearing the crash scene of TWA Flight 800, the crew aboard this dock-landing ship looks at the everyday flotsam in the Atlantic a bit differently, wondering if it holds any clue as to the cause of the disaster.
Pieces of red and white debris - the color of the downed airliner - floating aluminum, plastic and wood, soda cans, water bottles and globs of sea grass grab the crew's attention as they peer into the Atlantic.
One of the helicopter pilots aboard, flying his CH-46 Sea Knight on a test run, was at first startled by several floating forms until a closer look revealed they were sea turtles.
``It's just a bit eerie,'' said the lieutenant, assigned to Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 8 in Norfolk, which has two Sea Knights aboard. ``It's hard to tell what we'll find.''
The approximately 450 men and women aboard the Oak Hill, which anchored late Wednesday afternoon off Long Island, N.Y., are eager to get to work.
``We'll ultimately recover as much as they want,'' said Petty Officer 1st Class Terry Pace of the submarine tender L.Y. Spear, one of 13 Navy divers aboard. ``I'd hope we recover all the bodies. I'd like to be able to do that, to ease the suffering of the families.''
The Norfolk-based Oak Hill, commissioned just 49 days ago, was rushed into service this week to assist in the recovery of the plane's wreckage and its victims. It is anchored about one mile off East Moriches, N.Y., near the salvage and rescue ship Grasp.
``We have a large magnetic signature and don't need to interfere with their capabilities,'' said Cmdr. Michael A. Durnan, commanding officer of the Oak Hill. The Grasp has been using sonar, remote-controlled cameras and other sensitive equipment to find the wreckage.
``But I think we'll be right in the thick of it,'' Durnan said. The Oak Hill is prepared to offer a variety of services to the salvage operations, including serving as a hotel for tired workers. The ship is capable of housing 500 troops, in addition to its crew.
Paris-bound Flight 800, a Boeing 747 with 230 people aboard, exploded in midair shortly after taking off from Kennedy International Airport July 17.
Since then, divers have recovered the bodies of roughly half the jumbo jet's passengers and crew, and have begun to concentrate on the wreckage, which lies in a five-by-four-mile area off Long Island.
On Wednesday, divers recovered the flight data and cockpit voice recorders that investigators hope will provide critical clues as to what caused the crash.
``I'm sure we're all wondering who may have done this,'' said Lt. Bob Beardsworth of Virginia Beach, in charge of the Assault Craft Unit 2 utility boats aboard the Oak Hill.
``Hopefully, our work here may help solve this mystery down the road.''
Beardsworth and the 28 others under his command will be working around the clock to take divers and their equipment to the scene. They'll operate from 74-foot-long work boats, along with a pontoon boat with a 30-ton crane.
``It's a tragic thing we have to do, but we are happy to be able to do it,'' Beardsworth said. ``We'll be here until it's done.''
As the Navy divers prepared for the operation, they were briefed on the conditions they'll find.
``We'll be diving in about 115 feet of water,'' said Warrant Officer Don Buchanan, also from the L.Y. Spear.
Visibility below is limited by mud and silt, he said. Each dive will last about 60 minutes, depending on the conditions. The water temperature at that depth is about 46 degrees.
Once the divers reach the wreckage, they will have to feel their way around.
``Lights don't help,'' said diver Terry Pace. ``They are just about useless.''
The waters also are prone to sharks, the divers said.
Hundreds of rescue and salvage workers, from every branch of the armed services, plus the FBI, the Suffolk County, N.Y., police, the New York State Police and Red Cross are ashore nearby, working from a small Coast Guard station in East Moriches.
The once-sleepy station is surrounded by hundreds of government vehicles that wind down a narrow two-lane road to reach it. A sand parking lot was paved over earlier this week with tons of asphalt to accommodate military helicopters.
Some of the workers sleep on concrete hangar floors at the Coast Guard station. The Oak Hill, already carrying about 100 extra personnel in addition to its 360-man crew, is available to them, Durnan said.
This sudden mission is the first operational test for the Oak Hill, which has now spent nearly as much time at sea as it has in its new home at Little Creek. Its crew received barely 24 hours' notice to get aboard and get under way.
``It was kinda like having a wedding with no planning,'' Durnan said. ``We've learned a lot, and I credit the crew with a great job.''
Crew members were recalled from across the country, where many had been on vacation or had been moving families up from New Orleans, where the ship was built.
One senior chief quartermaster went on leave at 3 p.m. Monday to take his family on vacation to Cleveland. After driving all night, he arrived there at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday and had to jump on a flight at 7 a.m. to return to his ship.
The Oak Hill, commissioned June 8, also had to scoot out of Norfolk unexpectedly for Hurricane Bertha two weeks ago.
It has now spent 23 days at sea in its first 49 days of service. MEMO: THE NORFOLK CONNECTION
Navy Rear Adm. Edward K. Kristensen, commander of Combat Logistics
Group Two at the Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base, is serving as
coordinator for fleet support to the Supervisor of Salvage and National
Transportation Safety Board operations.
Kristensen, who is working from the dock landing ship Oak Hill, said
it is not known how long the operation will continue, but that the Navy
planned to stay until the job is completed.
The Oak Hill brought divers from various commands in Norfolk - the
tenders Spear, Emory Land and Shenandoah, the salvage ship Grapple, plus
shore-based submarine commands. They will join another 29 Navy divers
working from the Norfolk-based Grasp, which arrived in the area on
Monday.
Oak Hill also brought two landing craft, a work boat with crane and
other equipment to join Navy and civilian units already at work
recovering the remaining victims of the June 17 crash.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ship Rude, based
in Norfolk, also is being used in the search. It joined the effort the
day after the crash and on Wednesday helped the Navy's salvage ship
Grasp survey its mooring site over the major portion of the wreckage.
The Rude's sonar data sets and side scan sonar can detect small
objects on the sea floor.
Commanded by Cmdr. Samuel DeBow of the NOAA Corps, the Rude also is
working with the Navy contract vessel Pirouette in a systematic survey
of the ocean's floor in a 20-square mile area at the crash site. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]
LAWRENCE JACKSON
The Virginian-Pilot
Two LCM-8s are loaded into the cargo hold of the dock-landing ship
Oak Hill before it departed Norfolk on Tuesday for the crash site of
TWA Flight 800 off Long Island, N.Y. The mechanized landing craft
will be used to transport divers searching for wreckage.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The NTSB's director of aviation safety, Bernard Loeb, shows the
flight data and cockpit voice recorders Thursday. Two navy divers
working from the Norfolk-based salvafe ship Grasp - Kevin J.
Oelhafen of Appleton, Wis., and Douglas D. Irish opf Webster, Texas
- found the boxes about midnight Wednesday. by CNB