PORT HUENEME : Sailors Hurt in Fall Remain Hospitalized

Two sailors who fell five stories from an antenna at the Port Hueneme Seabee base remained in critical condition Friday while the Navy continued seeking the cause of the accident.

The petty officers, one of whom served in the Persian Gulf War, fell when the 75-foot tower collapsed Thursday morning at the Naval Construction Battalion Center.

The two men had been preparing to do what base spokeswoman Linda Wadley called routine maintenance work on the military communications tower.

Steelworker 3rd Class Timothy MacTavish, 27, who served in Desert Storm and Desert Shield, remained in intensive care at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, spokeswoman Karen Garner said.

She said the Oxnard resident underwent extensive surgery for two compound leg fractures and a spinal cord injury.

Technician 3rd Class Richard Terry, 22, a Thousand Oaks resident, also remained in intensive care with severe facial and head injuries, Garner said.

According to witnesses, MacTavish was about 60 feet up the free-standing tower, strapped to its metal bars, when it began to fall, Gold Coast Ambulanceparamedic Jeff Muzzin said.

He said Terry was climbing the rungs of the triangular tower at the time, about 10 feet below MacTavish, and that both tried to jump free.

Mike Dorey, 27, who is MacTavish’s roommate off base, said the petty officer served in the Persian Gulf War and has been sent to Korea, Japan and Puerto Rico.

Wadley said the seven-year veteran received two medals for serving in the Persian Gulf.

Terry, a four-year veteran whose fiancee lives in Thousand Oaks, also did maintenance work with MacTavish at an apartment complex off base, Dorey said.