The Navy is thinking of holding an inquiry along criminal lines that could result in charges against the captain or crew of the submarine that collided with a Japanese boat Friday, according to officials.
Navy officials also said Wednesday morning that civilians could have distracted the crew of the submarine that sank a Japanese boat Friday.
U.S. military officials admitted Tuesday that two civilians were sitting at control positions of the USS Greenville at the time of its collision.
Senior military officials said Tuesday that there's no indication the civilians played any role in the accident.
But the officials said that there's no evidence that the civilians did distract the crew.
Commissioned: Feb. 16, 1996
Los Angeles-class attack nuclear submarine
Homeported in Pearl Harbor in March 1997
Max crew: 130
Specs:
499 tons
190.8 feet long
30.5 feet wide
Max crew: 76
One civilian was seated at a dive control operations seat on the right-hand helm. The other was at the controls the ballast-release mechanism, according to CNN.
The submarine surfaced beneath the fishing vessel Ehime Maru last Friday, sinking it. A total of 26 people were rescued, but nine remain missing.
A
U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet spokesman told KITV4 News that 16 civilians and a Navy escort were on board the Greeneville at the time of the collision, more than originally thought.
"It's not uncommon for civilian guests to participate in operations, including driving the ship," Chun said. "But that's always under the close supervision of experienced personnel."
One of the survivors of the Ehime Maru told reporters that he was disgusted when he heard that a civilian was at a control station. Navigator Ryoichi Miya said that he will never forgive the Navy for allowing a civilian to steer the submarine.
Miya and 13 other survivors from the fishing vessel held a press conference Tuesday to describe their experience.
"I saw a big wave and something came up from the deep," crew member Hideo Okayama said. "I thought it was a whale."
The
National Transportation Safety Board, at its nightly press briefing Tuesday, said nothing about the civilians in the submarine. They did say that they found no tape recordings from either the periscope or sonars aboard the Greeneville and that they will now examine computer records from the day of the collision.
Earlier in the day, NTSB lead investigator John Hammerschimidt said that investigators have started to interview crew members of the submarine, starting with the submarine's diving officer and sonar team. The interviews of the Greeneville's entire crew are expected to last three days.
Navy and Coast Guard teams continued their search for the nine missing crew members on Tuesday. There was no word on if or when they plan to suspend the search.
The remotely operated vehicle Scorpio II and the Klein 2000 Side Scan Sonar System were flown to Hawaii Monday night from a Navy base in Coronado, Calif., the Navy said in a news release.
And a "Deep Drone," a remotely operated vehicle designed to meet the needs for deep ocean recovery, arrived in Honolulu Tuesday.
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