news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051004/ap_on_re_us/boat_overturned
AP Outdated Weight Charts Eyed in Boat Fatal By CANDICE CHOI, Associated Press Writer Tue Oct 4, 7:43 PM ET LAKE GEORGE, NY - Just days before a tour boat capsized in the Adironda ck Mountains, killing 20 elderly people, the Coast Guard began rethinkin g its passenger-weight calculations to take into account Americans' expa nding waistlines.
click here At the time it flipped over, the 38-foot Ethan Allen was just under its c apacity of 48 passengers a figure that was arrived at by using a New Y ork standard that assumes a 150-pound average for each man, woman and ch ild, authorities said.
US Coast Guard standard assumes a 140-pound average for each person. Investigators looking into the accident have said that too much weight ma y have been a factor and suggested those standards may have to be revise d because Americans are getting heavier something the Coast Guard reco gnized well before the tragedy. "We are looking at that and we know that if you look around at average pe ople, you know this is not an accurate average to be using," said Coast Guard spokeswoman Angela McArdle. The disclosure from the Coast Guard in Washington came as divers combed t he bottom of Lake George for the belongings of the elderly passengers to ssed into the water and experts examined the boat for clues to why it ov erturned on a calm, clear Sunday during a one-hour sightseeing tour.
National Transportation Safety Board said investigators would conduct tests Wednesday to see how The Ethan All en would have handled at various speeds while carrying its maximum load of 50 people using a 160-pound-per-passenger calculation. The test also will explain what might have happened if the weight suddenl y shifted to one side, a possible cause of the accident. Acting NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker also said the 39-year-old boat had mod ifications that would have made it heavier. Among them, a canvas canopy was replaced with a wood-and-Fiberglas design, a larger engine was insta lled, and seven lead bricks for ballast were placed in the bow, probably to keep the boat balanced after the larger engine was installed. The NTSB will do the tests on The Ethan Allen's twin sister boat, The de Champlain, in what Rosenker called "a very scientific road test." Rosenker said four passengers interviewed Tuesday told investigators the windows on the boat were open when it flipped, helping some to escape. An examination of the boat also found no automatic bilge pump in the Etha n Allen, meaning a pilot or crew member would have to manually pump out water. Finally, Rosenker said a "human factor" test would study the actions of t he boat's captain in the 72 hours leading up to the accident. Earlier, police said the boat's operator, Shoreline Cruises, could face a fine of $25 to $100 for failing to have a second crew member on board t o aid the 74-year-old captain, Richard Paris. A state inspector determin ed in May the boat needed two crew members. "You could imagine the things that could go wrong," said state police Maj . "There may be times when someone may need to attend to s omeone while the vessel was being operated." The state on Monday night suspended the operating certificates for all fi ve of Shoreline's boats. Other government regulators also are changing standards to adapt to heavi er Americans.
Federal Aviation Administration raised its summertime weight average from 160 pounds per person to 174, i ncluding carry-on baggage. McArdle said the Coast Guard awarded a contract just a few weeks ago to a research firm to determine how increasing the average weight per passen ger would affect vessels around the United States. McArdle said the Coast Guard knew the weight requirement has been outdate d for some time, but did not move on the issue until the National Transp ortation Safety Board warned about the problem following the sinking of a water taxi in the Baltimore harbor that killed five people in 2004. As ked why the Coast Guard did not move more quickly on the weight-per-pers on calculation, McArdle said: "It has such wide-ranging implications. Yo u need to address the economic impact on the industry, looking at the sc ope. Investigators believe a combination of factors could have contributed to the Ethan Allen tragedy, including a large wake created by another boat, a sudden shift of passengers' weight on the boat's bench-style seats, a nd the overall weight of the passengers. The 47 passengers were senior citizens from Michigan and Ohio who had com e East to see the changing fall colors. The investigation continued Tuesday with a scheduled interview of the cap tain and the examination of the Ethan Allen in a nearby airplane hangar. Rich Morin, a professional scuba diver who helped raise the boat Monday, said when he saw the boat underwater, "there didn't appear to be any dam age at all." Of the 27 people brought to Glens Falls Hospital after the capsizing, fou r remained hospitalized Tuesday. Also Tuesday, Shoreline owner James Quirk said he and his company were "s hocked and saddened" by the sinking. He refused to answer questions beyo nd a statement in which said: "This company's been in the passenger boat business for 27 years and until this event we have had a perfect record ." Police also released tapes of 911 calls made minutes after the boat tippe d over. When asked how many people were on the boat, she answered: "Oh, a lot of people they're hanging on to the bottom where it went over!
A second diver with the Scuba Unit of the Warren County Sheriff's dep artment jumps into Lake George on Tuesday, Oct. The sheriff said that the divers were looking for articles that went down with the boat.
The informati on contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewr itten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associ ated Press.
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