Sea of Shadows eBook - Navy Thriller.com

SEA OF SHADOWS 291
Miraculously, though pieces of the shattered rotors ricocheted off the
deck and bulkheads, no others found human targets.
The crash-and-smash team started moving the instant the helo was on
deck—one team spraying the wrecked aircraft with firefighting foam, and
another rushing up to access the cabin and rescue the crew.
The pilot and copilot, both of whom could walk with assistance, were
out in less than a minute. The SENSO, Petty Officer Haynes, had to be
carried out on a stretcher.
The Helo Control Officer watched as his crash-and-smash team
continued to blanket the downed aircraft with foam. “We’re going to have
to push it over the side,” he said.
“We need the captain’s permission to do that,” the LSE said.
“Of course we do,” the HCO said. “But it’s not like he’s going to have
a choice. No way that bird is leaving the flight deck under its own power.
Maybe if we were back in the States, they could crane it off and haul it
back to the squadron for a rebuild. But right now, it’s blocking the flight
deck, and we can’t launch or recover Firewalker until it’s gone.”
His words proved prophetic. Ten minutes later, the captain ordered a
fifty-man working party to muster on the flight deck. Working together
under the orders of the HCO, they rocked the damaged aircraft back and
forth until they could roll it off the deck.
Gunslinger Four-One slipped over the side. The crippled helo floated
only for a few seconds before disappearing beneath the waves.