Missile launches make the weather deck hazardous

Can sailors remain on deck while a warship launches missiles?

Crews try to clear the deck because blast and exhaust make it dangerous, even around launchers fitted with deflectors.

Crews try to keep people off the exposed deck during missile launches. A recollection from Falklands veteran Steve George describes HMS Invincible's Sea Dart launcher starting while he worked beneath a Sea King. George chose to remain under the helicopter instead of running across the deck before the missiles fired. The launcher had blast deflectors, but the experience still illustrates why the deck was a dangerous place to be.