THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 13, 1995 TAG: 9510130511
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
A sailor killed Wednesday while working on an ejection seat in an F-14 Tomcat fighter at Oceana Naval Air Station has been identified as Petty Officer 2nd Class Fred W. Hemme, 23.
Hemme, an aviation structural mechanic whose hometown was Birmingham, Ala., and another crewman, Airman Michael L. Dobson, 22, were conducting maintenance on one of the two seats when the aircraft's rocket-powered ejection system inadvertently activated, firing the seat out of the plane and onto a hangar roof at Oceana.
The Nightingale helicopter ambulance flew Hemme to the trauma center at Virginia Beach General Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Dobson was treated at the Oceana clinic for minor injuries and released.
Both men, assigned to Fighter Squadron 101 at Oceana, were working on the seat about 8:20 p.m. when the accident occurred, said Cmdr. Kevin Wensing, a spokesman for the Atlantic Fleet Naval Air Force. Hemme was seated in the cockpit, but not strapped into it as a pilot would be before beginning a flight, said Wensing. Dobson apparently was standing outside the aircraft.
The ejection systems in aircraft such as the Tomcat have a safety device that is manually activated to prevent an unintentional firing. Only when an air crew is properly strapped in and ready for takeoff is the ejection system armed. It is disarmed once the crew returns to base and shuts down the engines.
A powerful rocket within the system is designed to send the seat and its occupant nearly 200 feet into the air, even if the aircraft is on the ground and not moving.
The exact cause of the mishap is not know, said Wensing. An investigation is being conducted to determine the cause.
Hemme is survived by his wife and 4-month-old daughter.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT MILITARY ACCIDENT PLANE FATALITY
INJURIES by CNB