Navy Evaluating Lessons From Safety Review : Hazards: But 12 days after the 48-hour stand-down, a helicopter crashes into the ocean off Okinawa, leaving one man lost at sea and two others injured.

Twelve days after an unprecedented 48-hour safety review, the Navy is hearing that it needs more CPR classes, better handling of hazardous materials and safety training when a sailor first boards a ship instead of waiting for the division’s training session.

But, even as the Navy was reviewing the reports, an SH-2F Seasprite helicopter crashed into the ocean near Okinawa, leaving two men injured, including the Chula Vista pilot, and the co-pilot missing.

Although many of the safety reports have not yet been compiled, some have already been reviewed by officers with the Pacific Fleet Surface Force, which oversees 70,800 military personnel, 3,000 civilians, 174 ships, and 12 shore stations around the Pacific.

About 140,000 San Diego Navy personnel slowed normal operations after a string of accidents to attend safety reviews. Commanding officers were asked to file reports on what had been learned and to make recommendations.

One squadron commander recommended that the Navy accelerate its evaluation of the cause of accidents.

“We need a rapid means of feeding lessons-learned information to ships immediately after an accident,” he said. “Properly executed, it would get the word out while attention is high. . . . Getting the word six months after the accident not only dulls the message, it increases the chance of a similar event.”

Others suggested beefing up the training for handling hazardous materials, which one commanding officer said was “one of the least understood items.”

Other recommendations involved heightening sailors’ attention to safety procedures.

“Sailors must understand that even the smallest job is important when dealing with heavy and dangerous machinery,” said the commanding officer of a destroyer tender, a repair ship.

Aboard ships in the Pacific Fleet, still others spoke of increasing cardiopulmonary resuscitation classes, checking the storage of flammable liquids and practicing emergency exits at least four times a year.

Although safety stand-downs are routine among aviators, they are new to sailors aboard ships.

“The one common thing people thought is that we ought to do this periodically,” said Cmdr. David Dillon, spokesman for the Pacific Fleet Surface Force command. “The stand-down turned out be such a good idea because it allowed everybody to focus on safety.”

The latest crash occurred 5 miles off Okinawa at 10:50 a.m. Wednesday during routine operations.

The co-pilot is considered lost at sea. Two of the three men aboard were rescued from the water, roiled by 2- to 3-foot waves. The pilot, Lt. Cmdr. Allan R. Batterman, a Chula Vista resident, suffered a broken wrist and possible internal injuries; the other crew member had a broken ankle.

Officials did not disclose the names of the missing co-pilot or the recovered air crewman, whose duties included monitoring the helicopter’s sensors.

The accident brings the year’s toll to 103 Navy personnel killed during training and operating procedures, the highest in the decade, officials said. So far in 1989, 68 major accidents have involved loss of life or more than $1-million damage to Navy property.

“This was a very tragic accident, but we do a very dangerous thing for a living, and, unfortunately accidents do occur,” said Bob Howard, a spokesman for the Commander Naval Air Pacific Fleet. “We’re having a bad period where it just seems like things are happening at once.”