Disaster Recovery

Member Joined: Jul 26, 2006

Has anybody been involved in disaster recovery of aircraft or ships disasters with ROV's?
Im not talking about treasure hunting here, more the recovery of wreckage, blackbox's, and deceased body's.
Some notable disasters are Challenger ( spacecraft ), TWA 800 (Boeing 747 ), Kursk ( submarine) and the many other's that have happened.

If you have been involved, just wondering how it felt doing the job, was there any more added stress to hurry up and retrieve the black box, did you feel a kind of personnel satisfaction that the wreckage that you recovered helped investigators find the answer to the disaster.

Have many more questions that I would love to ask, but just seeing if anyone has been involved first?

Hotstab

Member Joined: Jun 05, 2004

I have not been involoved in Space shuttles or Airliners but Shipwrecks and helecopters , yes.
If there is bodies involved , you either just get on with it or have nightmares afterwards !
You either have a strong stomach or have not.
I was on one such job where two of the guys wanted off after a couple of days. Unfortunately there was no getting off so they stayed off shift !
some of the guys were pissed off over it because we had to carry thier shift and were thinking , They knew we were coming out to the job so why did they except it in the first place !
Some people get a shock when they see the conditions in side the wreckage.Stress , yes there can be alot !
I heard that there were Psychologists ( I think thats how you spell it ? ) On both the Piper Alpha and Herald Of Free enterprise investigations .
As for Black boxes ( Interesting colour Very Happy

)
Emergency contracts like wreckage locating is usually an open cheque book so you do not get pressure over how long you are taking.
Except from asshole Dive superintendants on bonuses Evil or Very Mad

Depending on what size the wreckage is and how long it has been down depends on whether you have the right location !
There might be several coordinates to look at.
Depending on whether you have fished the area first or whether you are on a dp vessel and the ship follows the ROV along the seabed with the help of survey Nav.
Finding the blackbox can be very boring !
The ROV just follows a debris trail over the seabed and investigates every sonar contact ! Hours and hours and hours !
Sad

Member Joined: Jun 10, 2004

Two civilian airliners and assorted military recoveries for me. The mental stress because of the human carnage can be hard to handle. We "heard" there were shrinks available to counsel us afterwards but I didnt see one nor did any of the guys with me, at least that I am aware of. The company didnt push us to go nor did they act too concerned about whether we needed counseling or not. However, we all should have went.

Its not enough that you are having to stay focused on the job at hand and trying to navigate through a debris field of twisted and jagged metal and wiring floating around everywhere, as well as the deceased passengers, but when the FBI, CIA, and NTSB are breathing down your neck it can make the stress 10X worse but its just all part of the job.

Lets not forget that we had to fly back home after having just picked through the remains of a crashed plane(s). That was really hard for me.

Member Joined: Dec 26, 2003

Hey ho rovrednek.
Hope you're having a well earned rest. Still crazy out here on the 'underbunny.

C'mon man, we all know you needed coucelling before the job Wink

Oh, the topic....did many body recoveries as a police diver. No risidual problem except I don't eat crab or crawfish..... no matter how drunk I am.

Cheers,
Africa

Member Joined: Jul 26, 2006

Many thanks for the interesting reply fellas

Just a few questions if you don't mind answering

Did you know of the incident on the news before you were called up to do the job? Or was it a middle of the night call, we need you now.
Were you already on a job, or on your break, when you got called up?
The company you worked for specialise in disaster recovery, or they just wanted someone with a ROV and get there quick?
Were the jobs that you were in, very deep water?

and please don't answer these last question's, if you think its a bit morbid or you feel uneasy.

but just wondering how you went handling the deceased body's with the manipulators. Did you have to special soft jaws on the manipulators. Yes I know they are dead, but there is still a respectful way in dealing with body's ( I've had to deal with deceased people myself, not with ROV's but. )
I imagine the ROV blackbox was confiscated after the job was completed?

Thanks fellas for chatting about a difficult subject, and fully understand if you don't answer any of the above questions

Hotstab

Member Joined: Jun 05, 2004

Ok here it goes ........................................
Yes / Yes / Yes / No / No / Yes and No
Very Happy

Member Joined: Jun 10, 2004

*yes we knew
*On days off for some and already at work for some
*yes the companies I worked for had contracts for this type of work
*In both deep and not so deep water.
*No special manipulators and yes they took the boxes post haste.

Member Joined: Jul 26, 2006

Thanks fellas for the little insight into the Disaster recovery, with ROV's.
Much appriciated

Hotstab

Member Joined: Dec 26, 2003

Okee dokie Hotstab,
We show'd you ours, nowz yo turn; Why?

Member Joined: Jul 26, 2006

Hi R2d2

I suppose there is a few different reasons why:

1/ most of us ROVers probably work in the oil and gas/ construction work, and disaster recovery is very limited work,and most of us probably will never get the chance to do it ( even if we wanted too ). Its different compared to what we normally do, even if boring, morbid or stressful..

2/ I have a big interest in airdisaster's, the causes, human errors, mechanical errors, safety culture of airlines, the investigations into airdisaster, how they found the cause of the accident etc. Its pretty funny that I should be interested in airdisaster's, as I spend up to 20hrs flying every month from jobs to home, and vice versa etc.

I think it would be interesting, on how they map the area ( very large with Challenger ), and go about finding the pieces. Do they pick up every piece that you come across or just identify and carry on to the next.
As with any aircraft accident there is always the rush to get the black box, and find the cause, so probably wondering how quick it is for companies to mobilise, or they just happened to be close by.
ROV skills I imagine there would be a big focus on tether management as you wouldn't want your tether ripped apart form jagged/ sharp metal. As I mentioned in a earlier post, even thou the body's are dead, you still want to treat them with respect and therefore ripping limbs off with the manipulators would not be a good thing!
With every deceased body, do you bring it to the top straight away, place in a area, hand over to divers half way up, im not really sure ( once again its different to what I do, as a ROVer )

3/ I think I would have a bit of personnel satisfaction that, I was part of the team that found the black box or critical part of the aircraft that pointed investigators to the cause of the accident. Most of the safety on airlines that we see/ and don't see are due to accidents, therefore as a ROV team inwhich you have found the blackbox or missing peice of the jigsaw puzzle, you have in a small indirect way helped the safety of air travel.

As far as companies go, that have contracts to do disaster recovery, I'm not really sure if the one I'm working for does or doesn't. Would I put my hand up to do a disaster recovery if it come up? YES, I sure would. I have been in volunteer emergency services and have seen some nasty stuff in my times. Yes it is horrible, but you say a quite RIP to them and carry on with your job.

Hotstab

Member Joined: Dec 26, 2003

Like I say, thank goodness our rov's don't have passengers Wink

Member Joined: Jul 26, 2006

R2D2 wrote:

Like I say, thank goodness our rov's don't have passengers Wink

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He he, well we could always start a " ROV Disaster Recovery" thread ! Laughing