Norfolk-based Eisenhower crew rescue overboard sailor

Posted to: Military
Login or register to post comments

By Jim Washington
The Virginian-Pilot
© February 26, 2009

The crew of the Norfolk-based carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower rescued a sailor who went overboard Thursday.

According to a Navy press release, sailors on lookout spotted a fellow sailor go overboard at about 4:30 p.m. while in transit in the Atlantic. The Eisenhower deployed from Norfolk on Saturday.

The crew initiated man-overboard procedures, which include mustering the crew, launching a helicopter and lowering an inflatable boat into the water. The sailor was in the water less than 30 minutes before being recovered, and was not injured.

The sailor's name was not released.

COMMENTS ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here; comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its websites. Users must follow agreed-upon rules: Be civil, be clean, be on topic; don't attack private individuals, other users or classes of people. Read the full rules here.
- Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the report violation link below it.

is it just me?

Submitted by nfkstateofmind on Fri, 02/27/2009 at 12:38 am.

or are a great number of sailors falling in the drink? This is the 3rd one I can think of that has been reported in the last few weeks (the last two were not so fortunate). I hope this is just an aberration and not a case of the news starting to report on a regular occurence.

Let me put it this way

Submitted by Rob Maz on Thu, 02/26/2009 at 10:49 pm.

You drive through a football field at 20 mph, I'll throw a penny onto the field out the window of your car. You turn around and try to find it and then you see if 30 min seems a long time... Because that about sums up what happens when someone goes overboard.

It is a long time

Submitted by joshk_in_vb on Thu, 02/26/2009 at 9:52 pm.

especially in the Atlantic in February. Depending on what details were provided to whomever wrote the article, it very well could be that the event lasted 30 minutes. It doesn't end until EVERYONE on board is accounted for, which can take a long time, especially on a ship that big. Actaully time in the water should have been less than 10 minutes.

that's good

Submitted by jep23 on Thu, 02/26/2009 at 9:10 pm.

I'm glad they were able to rescue him. I'm not really familiar with what has to happen to rescue someone, but 30 minutes seems like a long time to me.