After Fatal Accident, Marines in Waterborne AAVs Get Emergency Breathing Devices
22 Apr 2021
Military.com | By Gina Harkins
Any Marine operating or riding in a waterborne amphibious assault vehicle will now get a supplemental emergency breathing device, Military.com has learned.
The Marine Corps has lifted its servicewide suspension on water operations for AAVs after one sank off the coast of California in July 2020. Eight Marines and one sailor riding inside drowned when the vehicle filled with water on its way back to their ship.
The decades-old tracked vehicles have been restricted to land operations for nearly nine months, but about a dozen hit the water again on April 13, four days after the ban on water ops was lifted. Ship-based operations remain on hold for the vehicles, but Marines now can train in them from ashore, Capt. Andrew Wood, a Marine spokesman at the Pentagon, said.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/04/22/after-fatal-accident-marines-waterborne-aavs-get-emergency-breathing-devices.html
