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concerns about the placement of the huffer, but personnel were involved in other tasks and may not have completely understood what was being said due to the ambient noise on the flight deck. However, the investigators also noted that moving the unit might not have prevented the initial explosion due to the estimated temperature of the rocket by that time.
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aircraft. Other recommendations included: install redundant communication and control systems, improve communication between key senior personnel, and redesign the head covering worn by flight deck firefighters. Investigators also recommended cross-training shipboard dentists as anesthetists, as one had been assigned to
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fire erupted, 96 percent of the ship's crew had attended firefighting training, along with 86 percent of the air wing. Lack of redundancies in communication systems and firefighting components were deemed to have hurt firefighting operations. Further factors included a lack of communication between
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that allowed burning jet fuel to enter the ship. The blaze killed 28 sailors, injured 314, and destroyed 15 aircraft. The cost of replacing the aircraft and repairing the ship topped $ 126 million (roughly $ 1 billion adjusted for inflation in 2022). Even graver damage was likely prevented by
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Manual investigation began immediately after the fire, in accordance with Navy policy. The investigation determined that the initial explosion was caused by the MD-3A "Huffer" exhaust overheating the Zuni rocket. Investigators also determined that an airman had observed the exhaust and had raised
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The investigators recommended a redesign of the air-start unit to vent the exhaust upward instead of to the side. They also recommended educating flight deck personnel on ordnance cook-off temperatures and times, and increasing the length of the hose that delivers the air from the huffer to the
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About three minutes after the initial explosion, a bomb exploded on the burning
Phantom, blowing a hole in the flight deck that measured about 8 by 7 feet (2.4 by 2.1 m). The heat ignited additional fires on the lower level, and debris caused holes in the deck which allowed burning fuel to
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soon detonated in succession. Several minutes after those detonations, a bomb rack exploded with three Mark 82 bombs. This blast tore a hole into the flight deck about 18 by 22 feet (5.5 by 6.7 m) in diameter and ruptured a 6,000-US-gallon (23 m) fuel tank mounted on a
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the Air Boss (who was responsible for flight and hangar deck firefighting) and the Damage
Control Assistant (who was responsible for all other firefighting operations), and overloading the firefighting system by activating multiple systems at once.
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fire was also started by a Zuni rocket which was accidentally launched into parked aircraft by a power surge, igniting a fuel fire that began to "cook off" 1,000-pound (454 kg) bombs. Procedural improvements after the
374:. Specific praise was given to the medical department, who were credited with saving countless lives, and to the establishment of a damage-control training team that helped with damage-control training.
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explosive. The explosion perforated the aircraft's fuel cells and ignited the leaking JP-5 jet fuel. About one minute later, three more Zuni rockets exploded; these blasts blew holes into the
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spread farther, entering the two lower levels and eventually the first deck. This explosion also severed nearby firehoses and damaged and rendered inoperable the
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had also established a competitive program between its repair parties to increase effectiveness. Praise was also directed to the captain of USS
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conducting a final battle drill and
Operational Readiness Inspection (ORI) before steaming for Vietnam. Additional personnel were aboard
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s 1967 fire on United States Navy
Shipboard Damage Control, Thesis, Henry P. Stewart, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 1992.
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investigation revealed that only half of the ship's crew and none of the air wing had attended firefighting school. When the
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came to the stricken carrier's aid. It took the combined crews of the three ships about four hours to extinguish the fires.
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This was the last of three major fires to befall U.S. aircraft carriers in the 1960s. It followed a
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that provided firefighting foam to the area. Two 500 lb (227 kg)
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on
October 26, 1966, that killed 44 sailors and injured 156 more; and
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was turning to port to conduct flight operations. On the stern sat a
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Investigators generally praised the firefighting operation aboard
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on July 29, 1967, that killed 134 sailors and injured 161. The
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was a major fire and series of explosions that broke out aboard
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411:"$ 126,000,000 in 1969 → 2022 | Inflation Calculator"
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733:Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1969
1279:January 1969 events in the United States
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382:, who navigated his ship within feet of
448:(CVAN-65) fire and munition explosions"
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1299:United States Navy in the 20th century
417:from the original on September 5, 2022
151:on January 14, 1969, off the coast of
1294:United States Navy in the Vietnam War
458:from the original on February 1, 2021
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697:1969 USS Enterprise (CVA(N)-65) fire
533:. United States Navy. Archived from
489:from the original on August 19, 2014
168:improvements made after the similar
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16:1969 fire on a US aircraft carrier
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228:McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II
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1284:1969 fires in the United States
53:About 8:18 a.m. local time
613:Public Affairs. Archived from
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386:to aid firefighting efforts.
277:The nuclear-powered cruiser
234:. The exhaust from an MD-3A
479:"Tragedy remembered as USS
208:Sailors from the destroyer
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1274:Fires in the United States
1264:Non-combat naval accidents
1259:Maritime incidents in 1969
609:. United States Navy. USS
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531:JAG Manual Investigations
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33:Fire on the stern of USS
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1022:October (unknown date):
640:"Fire on the Flightdeck"
452:insensitivemunitions.org
250:, commanding officer of
1304:Aircraft carrier fires
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671:The Impact of the USS
563:"Explosions Rocks USS
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93:20.45194°N 158.45139°W
946:July (unknown date):
524:"USS Enterprise fire"
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188:was off the coast of
119:15 aircraft destroyed
699:at Wikimedia Commons
607:Remembers 1969 Fire"
196:to observe the ORI.
184:On January 14, 1969
114:28 dead, 314 injured
98:20.45194; -158.45139
617:on February 6, 2015
573:. History Channel.
571:This Day in History
540:on November 2, 2013
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22:USS Enterprise fire
1289:Explosions in 1969
650:on January 9, 2011
324:a fire aboard USS
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1207:Bahía Buen Suceso
814:Charles F. Hughes
794:Longhope Lifeboat
695:Media related to
222:About 8:18 a.m.,
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652:. Retrieved
648:the original
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615:the original
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535:the original
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485:. CBS News.
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419:. Retrieved
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63:Pearl Harbor
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1155:USC&GS
483:is retired"
244:flight deck
230:armed with
165:flight deck
161:Zuni rocket
96: /
71:Coordinates
1269:Ship fires
1253:Categories
1214:Hsien Yang
1146:Andromachi
1115:Enterprise
772:HMAS
740:Shipwrecks
654:August 12,
621:August 12,
611:Enterprise
605:Enterprise
581:August 12,
565:Enterprise
544:August 15,
493:August 12,
481:Enterprise
462:August 12,
446:Enterprise
398:References
392:Enterprise
384:Enterprise
376:Enterprise
372:Enterprise
364:Enterprise
340:Enterprise
310:Enterprise
302:Enterprise
298:Bainbridge
280:Bainbridge
252:Enterprise
224:Enterprise
216:Enterprise
194:Enterprise
186:Enterprise
180:Background
159:. After a
148:Enterprise
140:Enterprise
109:Casualties
84:158°27′5″W
35:Enterprise
1194:USS
1177:USS
1134:USS
1075:USS
1068:USS
1057:USS
1046:USS
1035:USS
1026:Matagorda
1015:Vincennes
1013:USS
1002:USS
991:USS
980:USS
959:USS
948:USS
937:USS
930:USS
919:USS
898:USS
887:USS
880:USS
869:USS
858:USS
840:USS
812:USS
783:USS
761:USS
750:USS
673:Forrestal
644:ewind.com
444:"The USS
360:Forrestal
336:Forrestal
331:Forrestal
326:Forrestal
300:escorted
293:Aftermath
172:Forrestal
170:1967 USS
146:USS
138:1969 USS
81:20°27′7″N
1192:19 Dec:
1175:15 Nov:
1168:Kootenay
1164:23 Oct:
1157:McArthur
1153:20 Oct:
1143:25 Jun:
1132:11 Feb:
1122:10 Feb:
1111:14 Jan:
1104:Carmania
1101:12 Jan:
1077:Pandemus
1070:Heyliger
1059:Burrfish
1055:19 Nov:
1011:28 Oct:
1000:14 Oct:
989:10 Oct:
968:23 Sep:
957:16 Sep:
939:Tullibee
928:16 Jul:
907:29 Jun:
896:27 Jun:
878:24 Jun:
860:Guitarro
849:15 May:
824:Poseidon
810:26 Mar:
800:21 Mar:
792:17 Mar:
770:13 Feb:
748:31 Jan:
575:Archived
487:Archived
456:Archived
415:Archived
319:Oriskany
248:Kent Lee
236:"Huffer"
58:Location
1136:Chopper
1125:Lukia M
1044:7 Nov:
1033:4 Nov:
1004:Madison
978:8 Oct:
961:Trepang
917:4 Jul:
910:Sincere
900:Snowden
867:3 Jun:
838:3 Apr:
831:M 111-1
781:1 Mar:
763:Redfish
759:6 Feb:
752:Sterlet
1037:Bailey
1024:USCGC
982:Barton
950:Richey
851:USCGC
774:Arunta
380:Rogers
342:fire.
286:Rogers
211:Rogers
190:Hawaii
157:Hawaii
1212:ROCS
1166:HMCS
1083:Lalor
1048:Bream
932:Manta
921:Witek
882:Beale
853:Casco
842:Tills
676:'
538:(PDF)
527:(PDF)
269:KA-3B
1240:1970
1227:1968
1205:ARA
1179:Gato
1113:USS
829:USS
656:2014
623:2014
583:2014
546:2014
495:2014
464:2014
423:2022
358:The
200:Fire
174:fire
153:Oahu
142:fire
136:The
127:US$
50:Time
42:Date
1185:K19
785:Day
352:JAG
304:to
1255::
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585:.
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548:.
497:.
466:.
425:.
218:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
