Report: Officers share blame in death on USS Kennedy

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Failures by officers and enlisted personnel and broken or faulty equipment aboard the USS John F. Kennedy contributed to the death of a sailor in April, according to a report released by the Navy. Six officers and enlisted personnel failed in their jobs as department heads and had too much work the day of Seaman Apprentice Daxion J. Brown's death, according to the Judge Advocate General's report. The crew members on the Jacksonville-based carrier were disciplined in May, but the Navy did not disclose their punishments or names. Brown died and Seaman Brian F. Carr was sent to the hospital from inhaling toxic fumes that escaped as they worked in the ship's sewage pump room. "Lack of oversight, poor crew supervision, insufficient training and inoperative equipment contributed to an unsafe working environment and, ultimately, to this tragic accident," according to a July letter in the report signed by Rear Adm. J.M. Zortman, commander of Naval Air Force Atlantic Fleet. Brown, 22, of Titusville, and Carr, of Fairland, Okla., accidentally pulled out a disk that blocked sewage, according to the report obtained Tuesday by The Florida Times-Union. Sewage began spraying out of the pipe and hydrogen sulfide gas, which has a pungent rotten egglike odor, also spewed out. Brown was told to get out of the room, but he shouted "I'm not going through that," the report said. The alarm that was supposed to warn them of the gas threat had been broken since February. Rescue crews had problems finding the correct breathing apparatus for the sailors, the report said. The crews also didn't have the correct rope and pulley apparatus to rescue the sailors, which contributed to the amount of time Brown spent in the room. Many of the standing orders the Navy has for areas that could be exposed to toxic gas were broken, the report said. Brown died two days before Capt. Ronald Henderson, then the ship's commanding officer, turned over control to Capt. Steve Squires. Squires was fired in August after the carrier hit and sank a wooden boat in the Persian Gulf. On Tuesday, Capt. Dennis Fitzpatrick took command of the carrier from an interim commander. Henderson was nominated to become a rear admiral weeks before Brown's death and wasn't disciplined after the investigation. Henderson said Tuesday the incident would remain with him the rest of his life.