NTSB: ‘Unexplained’ Course Change Was ‘A Critical Error’ in Fatal USS Fitzgerald Collision

[rangerrebew]

NTSB: ‘Unexplained’ Course Change Was ‘A Critical Error’ in Fatal USS Fitzgerald Collision
By: Sam LaGrone
September 3, 2020 6:10 PM


Federal investigators highlighted an “unexplained course change” by a U.S. guided-missile destroyer as “a critical error” that put the warship on the path to the fatal 2017 collision that would kill seven sailors, according to a new report released Thursday.

Eight minutes before the collision with the merchant ship ACX Crystal in a busy shipping lane off the coast of Japan, USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) – traveling at 20 knots – adjusted its course 10 degrees, setting the stage for the collision, according to the National Transportation Safety Board report.

“This course change proved to be a critical error, and investigators were unable to determine the reason for it,” reads the report.

https://news.usni.org/2020/09/03/ntsb-unexplained-course-change-was-a-critical-error-in-fatal-uss-fitzgerald-collision

[PeteS in CA]

IIRC, one problem in this and the other similar collision was that bridge personnel were significantly under-trained on the equipment they were operating. Perhaps a crew member thought they were doing something different but changed the course instead.