The White Falcon - 07.10.1983, Blaðsíða 1

The Naval Station's 'new' C-118 aircraft
suffered heavy damage during a fire last
Saturday morning. The sprinklers in Hangar
885 added a unique aspect to the view of the
One person in custody...
aircraft after water caused the Plane's tail
to settle to the ground. (Photos by Dan)
'New’ C-118 gutted by fire
The Naval Station s "new" C-118 aircraft
is now, after an early Saturday morning
fire of suspicious origin, heavily damaged.
One sailor, apprehended near the scene by
fast-acting Air Force Security personnel,
remains in custody.
At about 5:30 Saturday morning the fire
call went out. The Naval Station's Fire De-
partment arrived to find much of the air-
craft's interior on fire. Halldor Marteins-
son, the ground fire commander who was
among the first departmental personnel on
the scene, describes those first critical
moments in attacking the fire.
"When we arrived the (hangar) doors were
closed and when I entered the building I
could see the fire was inside the aircraft.
The rear door was open and fire was coming
out... and the whole interior of the plane,
especially in the rear, was engulfed in
flame. We began -to attack the fire from
inside with hose lines. The outside sprink-
lers in the building were working and they
helped us a lot."
Although the fire department quickly
brought the fire under control, thus reduc-
ing the danger to other aircraft which were
inside the hangar and to the hangar itself,
the fire continued to smolder for hours.
Through much of Saturday a department fire
watch monitored the aircraft should a
rekindling of the fire occur.
CAPT Eric McVadon, Naval Station command-
ing officer, was on the scene early and was
one of the first people inside the still
smoldering interior to personally inspect
the damage. The captain described the
scene and the overall effect as "a heart-
breaking experience" for all personnel as-
signed to the Keflavik NATO Base.
"It seems to me right now," he said in
the Saturday morning aftermath of the tra-
gedy "that is is not likely the plane will
ever fly again. This is the 'new' C-118
that we flew in here last night. That was
a very proud moment for us when the plane
came around the corner of the hangar. Of
course, our flight crew and maintenance
people were very proud... all of the sys-
tems were working; we were elated because
the plane was all that we hoped," he said.
"Everything looked so rosy, but, of
course, things look so very different this
morning," he said with a note of resigna-
tion and disappointment in his voice. "How-
ever, there are some very positive things.
A fire like this, to have been contained
within the aircraft, as our fire and crash
crew did, is probably a phenomenal thing in
itself." (See C-118 FIRE, Page 4)
Varied Navy Week activities planned
Special sporting events, trips, shows,
movies and ceremonies to commemorate the
Navy's 208th birthday will commence today
through next Thursday for all Department of
Defense personnel and their dependents.
The base gym offers a vintage (old tim-
ers) basketball game between the officers
and chiefs today at 4:30 p.m. And there
will be a double-elimination racquetball
tournament beginning today and ending Sun-
day for both men and women. Anyone inter-
ested in representing the NATO Base in the
CINCNAVEUR tournament, to be held at a later
date, must participate in this event in or-
der to establish eligibility.
A Fall Run Off will be held on Saturday
at the base gym. This event, which begins
at 10 a.m., wi 11 consist of an open competi-
tion and an over-40 age group. There will
be both a four- and a six-mile run. You
can register for this event any time up to
the run.
On Sunday there will be an intramural
swim meet for all interested personnel. It
will begin at 2 p.m.
A bicycle race is scheduled for Sunday
morning at 10, starting from the base gym.
The race is over a 30-mile course.
Registration forall gym-sponsored events
-- except the basketball game -- is $3.
Prizes will be awarded to the winners of
all events and all participants will re-
ceive Navy Week T-shirts. For more infor-
mation and to sign up, contact the base gym
at 4588 or 5191.
Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) De-
partment will sponsor red pin bowling Fri-
day through Sunday from 6-11 p.m. each day.
MWR is also offering, through the Tour Of-
fice, tours to Amsterdam and the Westmann
Islands and there will be a shopping trip
to Reykjavik on Monday at 9 a.m. Contact
the Tour Office -- at 4200 -- for more de-
tails.
The DOD-sponsored show "Queens" comes to
the Windbreaker tonight at 8. The group
will appear at the US0 tomorrow at 3 p.m.
and at Rockville at 8 p.m.
The Youth Center -- from 3-5 p.m. today
-- is having a birthday party for children
from kindergarten age through 5th grade.
There will be a cake, games end other ac-
tivities. In the evening, from 6:30-11,
6th through 12th graders are invited to at-
tend a formal Navy Ball.
On Wednesday, a challenge match of war
ball will pit Navy dependents against Air
Force, Marine and other dependent challen-
gers for the championship.
Ongoing throughout the week, the Youth
Center with the KCP0A -- Keflavik Chief
Petty Officers Association -- will again
be sponsoring a Navy Week Poster Contest.
Prizes will be awarded for the best posters
depicting Navy life drawn by young artists
from kindergarten age through 8th grade.
The judging will be held on Wednesday and
the winners will be announced Thursday at
3:30 p.m.
Not to be outdone, the Puffin Preschool
will display exhibits of their art work to-
day from 3-5 p.m. Refreshments will be
served and there will be free helium-filled
balloons for the children. The show will
also be open Saturday from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
(See WEEK, Page 10)
RUMOR CONTROL
It was announced earlier this week that
the contract airline Arrow Air, which
began making the Wednesday morning "ro-
tator" runs from the U.S. to Keflavik
and the return flights, will continue
throughout the month of October.