Safeguard locates aircraft engine

After nearly two hours underwater, U.S. Navy Deep Sea Divers were able to rig a portion of debris from the F-16 aircraft that crashed into the Pacific Ocean April 3. The piece is a portion of the aircraft's fuselage.

In April of 2001 I was afforded a great opportunity by the Air Force and the Navy. My job involves media relations. Often I will escort media to places they want to visit to conduct interviews or to take pictures.

There had been an F-16 plane crash in Northern Japan. The aircraft had been training at Ripsaw Range, a U.S. Military controlled piece of land in Northern Honchu. The land is on the Pacific Ocean, near several fishing villages. U.S. Military aircraft practice dropping bombs and strafing there.

Local fisherman were quite angry at the whole issue. Fishing is the livelyhood of many people in Japan. The fact an aircraft had landed in the water meant that recovery operations would have to take place. This meant fishermen would have to be kept out of the area. Also, potential petroleum products could leak out of the aircaft and into the water. In reality, the amount of petroleum products was nominal.

For the second time in six months, the U.S. Air Force called upon the U.S. Navy to provide salvage support for an Air Force aircraft. The Navy sent the U.S.S. Safeguard.

Stars and Stripes reporter Wayne Specht wanted to go aboard the ship to interview divers. This was going to be a feature story in the following Sunday edition (April 29, 2001.) I was asked to escort him on his trip to the safeguard.

During my visit to the Safeguard I was able to take about three rolls of film. I also took notes. This story below was actually a news release I wrote when the Safeguard found the F-16's engine. Later, I slightly modified the news release for publication in the Northern Light. One of my photos from my trip to the Safeguard ran with the story, as printed below. I have included other photos here.

More photos of my day in the Navy are on the photo section of my page, "Contact Sheet 2."

MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan - The USS Safeguard, a Navy salvage vessel, continues to conduct salvage operations off the shore of Ripsaw Range, approximately 10 miles north of Misawa.

The U.S. Navy ship is conducting operations for the F-16 aircraft that crashed April 3 into the Pacific Ocean, after training at the range.

The Safeguard is anchored about 1000 yards from the shore. Navy deep sea divers have conducted underwater searches for aircraft debris. Later, divers go back to these sites, and depending on the size of the aircraft debris, will rig the piece so it may be pulled back onto the Safeguard. To date, found wreckage includes the jet engine, some fuel storage tanks, wing sections, portions of the fuselage, various portions of the aircraft's instrumentation, the gun barrel and part of the gun system assembly.

In order to minimize the environmental impact by fuel or oil release during recovery, both absorbant pads and absorbant booms were used to contain any possible leakage.

Initial recovery plans for F-16 wreckage salvage include recovering the flight/data recorders, the ejection seats, and the external fuel tanks. Most of the wreckage should eventually be recovered. CTLOPEZ (Publication date, April 27, 2001)