EMERGENCY INCIDENTS AND THE 

 POTENTIAL FOR RESCUE 



Since the beginning of modern deep sub- 

 mergence, a variety of near fatal and fatal 

 situations have occurred which tested many 

 submersibles' ability to extricate themselves 

 from or endure an emergency. Unfortu- 

 nately, there has been no central point 

 whereby such emergencies could be filed and 

 later analyzed to provide guidance toward 

 safer vehicles and operating procedures. On 

 the other hand, there was, and still is, no 

 clear definition of an emergency. Where loss 

 of communications may be an emergency to 

 one, it may be considered simply an irrita- 

 tion to another. A leaking penetrator on 

 BEN FRANKLIN was not considered serious 

 enough to surface and abort its mission; in 

 such cases it's the degree, not the occurrence 



of a leak, that constitutes an emergency. 

 Distinguishing an emergency from a routine 

 malfunction is still arbitrary. 



To gain an appreciation for the variety and 

 nature of submersible emergencies and acci- 

 dents and the ability of past and present 

 systems to respond, documented and undocu- 

 mented incidents will be briefly discussed in 

 this section. The majority of these incidents 

 are taken from a report by Mr. J. A. Pritzlaff 

 (1), Chairman of the Marine Technology Soci- 

 eties Undersea Vehicle Safety Standards 

 Subcommittee, who reviewed some 20 differ- 

 ent accidents and incidents with the goal of 

 deriving information which could be used in 

 subsequent submersible operations. When 

 Pritzlaff is not the source, it is so noted, and 



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