89 



tasks involved the use of manipulators. The military, on the other hand, 

 utilizes some form of manipulation in at least 25 percent of its work. A 

 representative sampling of such applications is presented in the following 

 discussion. 



3.2.1 Inspection 



The following tasks within this category have been reported: 



Aircraft crash assessment 



Sunken craft identification/assessment 



Hardware inspection 



3. 2.1. a Aircraft Crash Assessment 



In March 1977 a U.S. Navy A-7 aircraft crashed in 104m (340 ft) of water off 

 Japan. The pilot apparently failed to separate from his ejection seat and 

 deploy his parachute, and was subsequently drowned. The Supervisor of Salvage 

 was called into locate, examine and, if possible, retrieve the ejection seat 

 for an accident investigation. 



A side scan sonar search of the area revealed the presence of numerous sonar 

 targets in the area. The sea floor area searched was relatively clean and 

 flat, and afforded a distinct advantage to the search efforts. The Navy's 

 ROV DEEP DRONE was used to identify the sonar targets and examine and recover 

 the ejection seat. A CTFM- compatible transponder was deployed on the bottom 

 which was used to track the vehicle's position as it conducted the search/ 

 identification task. The second of two targets turned out to be the ejection 

 seat. The pilot remained strapped to the seat. DEEP DRONE attached a grapnel 

 to the seat which was lifted to the surface by the support ship. On the 

 following dive DEEP DRONE retrieved the bottom- mounted transponder. 



Other tasks included assessment of a commercial airline crash off Venezuela 

 in 183m (600 ft) of water, and assessment of a helicopter crash in 40m (130 ft) 

 of water off Sitka, Alaska. Normally a surface towed side scan sonar would 

 have been used to locate the wreck, but in the Alaskan assessment the bottom 

 was so irregular that the vehicle's CTFM sonar was used instead. 



3.2.1.b Sunken Craft Identification Assessment 



In November 1975 the ore carrier S S EDMUND FITZGERALD sunk during a storm 

 in Lake Superior. There were no survivors or no explanation for the cause 

 of the sinking. The sinking was so rapid and unexpected that no one was able 

 to successfully abandon ship. Arrangements were made by the Coast Guard with 

 the Navy to use CURV III for an assessment. Surface-deployed side scan sonar 

 and magnetometers located a potential target, but there was no positive identi- 

 fication. CURV III identified the sonar target as the EDMUND FITZGERALD by 

 reading the ship's name and home port on the stern in 182m (530 ft) of water. 

 Subsequently, 12 diVes were made to further investigate the wreck and over a total 

 of 56 hours bottom time and 13,184m (43,255 ft) of video tape was recorded 

 for shore-based accident investigation. 



