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Early-2000s, Kitty Hawk ground crews on fire and flight recovery drills. Photo above shows crewmen inspecting fire suppression nozzles embedded into the flight deck. Despite regimented rigors of carrier flight operations, it can still be a dangerous place from plane crash landings, arrestor cable failures, engine room explosions, etc. Therefore, constant practice is the norm for US naval personnel. USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) - www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/ships/carriers/histories/cv63-kittyhawk/cv63-kittyhawk.html
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For example, Dec 1965 Vietnam coast : engine room #3 fire forced flooding of ammunition magazine to avoid explosion, June 1967 San Francisco coast : carrier collided with USS Platte (AO-24) during midsea refueling, Dec 1973 east of Philippines : 7 crewmen killed in boiler room explosion, June 1975 north of Wake Island : Machinery Room #1 bulkhead cracked and heavily flooded, Sept 1981 Indian Ocean : A-7 Corsair jet collided with taxing F-14 Tomcat during landing, June 1984 : F-14 Tomcat jet with arrestor gear failure landed by use of crash barrier. Jan 2005 western Pacific : Arrestor cable snapped after landing F-18 jet, pilot ejected as plane crashed overboard, broken cable whipped across flight and severely injured a ground crewmen. USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) Official Web Site - www.kittyhawk.navy.mil
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One bizarre Kitty Hawk mishap was 21 March 1984 - Sea of Japan : The Battle Cat collided with Soviet Victor-class nuclear submarine when it surfaced directly under the carrier. Some speculated Soviet commander attempted to intimidate the US by surfacing in middle of their fleet exercises. In that accident, the carrier carried about several dozen tactical nuclear weapons, the Soviet sub carried nuclear torpedoes. Kitty Hawk Strike Group - www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/navy/batgru-63.htm
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Rollover : Close-up of crash barrier testing during practice drills, flight deck personnel wear color-coded uniforms to quickly identify scope of responsibilities. Although color flight deck uniforms were worn since WW2 era, 1950s saw expansion of color schemes as carrier-borne jets were introduced. Current color meanings outlined below :
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Blue |
Yellow |
Green |
White |
| Aircraft Handlers, Tractor Drivers, Aircraft Elevator Operators, Messengers and Phone Talkers, Aircraft Directors |
Plane Directors, Aircraft Handling Officers, Catapult and Arresting Gear Officers |
Catapult and Arresting Gear Crews, Air Wing Maintenance Personnel, Photographer's Mates, Catapult and Arresting Gear Officers, Cargo Handling Personnel, Helicopter Landing Signal Enlisted Personnel, Air Wing Quality Control Personnel |
Landing Signal Officers, Air Transfer Officers, Medical Personnel, Visitors / VIPs, Squadron Plane Inspectors, Liquid Oxygen Crews |
Red |
Purple |
Brown |
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Ordnancemen, Crash and Salvage Crews, Explosive Ordnance Disposal
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Aviation Fuels |
Air Wing Plane Captains, Air Wing Line Leading Petty Officers, Air Wing Helicopter Captains |
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In addition to color uniforms, color helmets further expand personnel identification. People on the Flight Deck - navysite.de/cvn/catcolor.htm
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