From: "Navy News Service" <NAVNEWS@nctamslant.navy.mil>
Subject: Navy News Service - 2 Oct 92
Organization: NCR Corporation -- Law Department
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1992 23:36:06 GMT


From "Navy News Service" <NAVNEWS@nctamslant.navy.mil>

NAVY NEWS SERVICE - 2 OCT 92 - NAVNEWS 047/92
    This Navy News Service message follows NAVNEWS 046/92, DTG  
010130Z 92.  NAVNEWS 047/92 is being released as a means of providing 
more timely information to the fleet; we will release news when it  
is news.   
                               -USN- 
NNS128.  USS Saratoga Missiles Inadvertently Strike Turkish Ship 
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- USS Saratoga (CV 60) inadvertently launched  
two Sea Sparrow missiles Oct. 1 during exercise "Display 
Determination '92," and at least one of the missiles struck Turkish 
destroyer Mauvenet.  
     The ships were engaged in active exercise role-playing in the 
Aegean Sea.  Saratoga was approximately three miles from the Turkish 
vessel and 80 miles west of Izmur, Turkey, when the incident 
occurred. 
     Navy ships quickly rushed to Mauvenet's aid.  USS Thomas S. 
Gates (CG 51) helicoptered a communications technician and special 
equipment to help re-establish communication between the Turkish ship 
and assisting U.S Navy ships.  USS Iwo Jima (LPH 2) was also on scene 
and used its extensive medical facilities to serve as a medical 
evacuation platform.  In addition, USS Detroit (AOE 4) launched small 
utility boats to evacuate the casualties and deliver dewatering 
equipment.   
     Preliminary reports indicated the missile struck Mauvenet in the 
bridge.  The reports also indicated five persons aboard the ship were 
killed, including its commanding officer, and at least 14 injured.  
There were no U.S. Navy casualties. 
     "I want to offer my sincere condolences to the families of those 
officers and men who were killed or injured aboard the Turkish 
destroyer last night," said ADM Frank B. Kelso, II, Chief of Naval 
Operations.  "This was a terrible accident, and I know I speak for 
the captain and crew of the Saratoga, as well as the entire U.S. 
Navy, when I say how sorry we are. 
     "We have convened a three-person Board of Inquiry to investigate 
this accident, and I am confident we will get to the bottom of it.  
Until that investigation is complete, I really cannot speculate as to 
the probable cause of the accident," said Kelso. 
     Members of the Board of Inquiry include RADM Roland Guilbault, 
Deputy Commander, Commander-in-Chief, Iberia and Atlantic, Lisbon, 
former commanding officer, USS Ticonderoga; RADM John Mazach, Deputy 
Director for Plans and Policy, United States European Command, former 
commanding officer, USS America; and RADM Henry Giffin, Allied Forces 
Southern Europe Logistics, former commanding officer, USS Gates.  
Adm. Sanger, Turkish Navy, will observe the Board of Inquiry.   
Story compiled from official press releases 
                              -USN-  
NNS129.  F/A-18 Strike Fighter Crashes at PAX River AW Center 
PATUXENT RIVER, Md. (NNS) -- An F/A-18 strike fighter from the Naval 
Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division in St. Mary's County, Md., 
crashed Oct. 1, killing one individual. 
     A contractor working for FD Services on station was killed when 
the plane crashed into a pickup truck on a nearby airfield access 
road near the airport.     
     The aircrew ejected and were taken to the Naval Hospital, where 
they were treated for injuries.  They are Marine Corps Maj. Douglas 
Yurovich and Lt. Col. Troy Pennington. 
     The crewmen reported difficulty with flight controls and were 
attempting an arrested landing.  An airplane flight control fault on 
final approach caused an overshoot of the trap and the pilot was 
waived off.  In the waive off, the crew reported the aircraft was out 
of control.  The crew ejected, and the unmanned fighter crashed, 
hitting the pickup truck. 
     The accident is under investigation. 
Story by Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division 
                               -USN-