Eight sailors hurt in accident on USS Eisenhower carrier flight deck

[jpak]

Source: Reuters

Eight U.S. sailors were injured on the flight deck of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier on Friday when a cable snapped during the landing of an E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft, the Navy said.

Six of the sailors were evacuated from the carrier and flown to shore in Norfolk, Virginia, while two were treated on board the ship. All eight were in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries, said U.S. Navy Commander Mike Kafka, spokesman for Naval Air Force Atlantic.

The USS Eisenhower was operating off the coast of Virginia as part of a large exercise as it prepares for deployment to the Middle East this summer.

The aircraft recovered from the botched landed and flew safely to Naval Station Norfolk, Kafka said.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-navy-sailors-idUSKCN0WK2V5

[EL34x4]

1. There's a million ways to die on an aircraft carrier.

Getting struck by a broken arresting cable is only one of them.

Best wishes for quick recoveries for all from a DU'er who once called Eisenhower home for several long months.

[jpak]

3. I had a client that was blown off the deck of a carrier by jet exhaust

lived to tell the tale...

[Wilms]

2. Ouch!

[burrowowl]

5. Yeow!

It is a wonder they weren't cut in half!

[Odin2005]

9. That's a good way to lose a limb...

...or get cut in half!

[me b zola]

4. Snapback doesn't just occur with synthetic lines

...although synthetic lines have taken many a sailor's life or limbs.

[awoke_in_2003]

6. This was an arresting cables...

they are connected to hydraulics and help stop the landing plane. I don't think they have synthetic versions.

[backscatter712]

8. Yeah, these are inch-thick steel cables that form the arrestor lines.

Glad people weren't hurt worse - snapped arrestor lines whipping around the deck have been known to kill.

[awoke_in_2003]

11. Yep, they can cut a person in half...

the deck of a carrier is probably one of the most dangerous work zones in the world.

[MADem]

7. There are probably missing limbs as a consequence of that terrible accident.

Hope they all survive.

I saw a hawser snap for no appparent reason--the tattletale didn't even move, and BOOM! next thing you know it was in two pieces. Knocked a kid out cold and took the leg off another guy. Horrific.

IIRC, the 'cause' was that the hawser was improperly stowed, that oil and light affected its ability to spring back.

Sounded like a gunshot when it parted.

I can't even begin to imagine the scene on that flight deck.

[Demonaut]

10. I was stationed on a carrier for 4 years, arresting gear need a certain tension on the cable

depending on the aircraft and if it's too low it can be pulled out, I'm surprised the hawkeye was able to recover

deaths occur fairly frequently on carriers but rarely make the news...at least in the 80's this was the case