Posted on 10/02/2005 7:37:23 PM PDT by zeebee
A boat filled with elderly tourists taking a pleasure cruise on Lake George in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York capsized suddenly and sank yesterday afternoon under a clear sky, killing 21 passengers and injuring several more, the authorities said.
The Ethan Allen, a 40-foot, glass-enclosed tour boat, went down with 49 people aboard, only a few hundred feet from the lake's western shore, about two miles north of the village of Lake George. Witnesses and officials said the boat had flipped over with startling speed, and might have been swamped by the wake of a bigger boat.
Brian Heart, who was canoeing nearby, said the Ethan Allen had made a hard right turn, "like he was trying to steer away from something," and "in a matter of 45 seconds, it slipped right over."
...
Dozens of people passing a sunny afternoon on their own boats or on shore swarmed to the site, pulling survivors from the water, tossing them life preservers, and plucking them from the upturned keel of the Ethan Allen before it slipped entirely below the water.
"I could hear people screaming inside the boat," said Brian Heart, 48, one of those who rushed to the scene. "We just couldn't get to them."
The lake is about 70 feet deep where the boat sank. Witnesses said the passengers had not been wearing life preservers, but that few on such cruise boats did. State law requires that life vests be aboard tour boats, but not that they be worn at all times.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
" State law requires that life vests be aboard tour boats, but not that they be worn at all times."
And your point it...?
I haven't been on a cruise boat yet that has required those things to be worn. And, I bet that the popularity of such cruises would take a dive it passengers would be required to wear them.
Ya pays yer money and ya takes yer chances. I never wear my preserver either, but it's always aboard.
Having life preservers aboard but not wearing them is pretty much standard. You would only have the passengers don life preservers if there were some kind of emergency situation, violent storm, or other reason for believing there might be danger of swamping or sinking.
Evidently this accident happened out of a clear blue sky, and we still don't know why. I would speculate that a sharp turn might make the boat lean over, but I would guess that the design must have been inherently unstable for it to tip over and sink like that. Possibly it was a combination of a sharp turn, a large wake, and passengers crowding to one side of the boat.
Not sure if it was mentioned in the original article, but it's my understanding that the tourists were from Canada ... seniors I believe.
It's the best they could do from while they refrained from saying it's Bush's fault.
Another article I read mentioned a wake from another boat.
Right. Earlier stories said it was a wake from a larger boat. But this one says that hasn't been confirmed. It's hard to see how even a large wake could cause an accident like this without other contributing circumstances.
Clearly it's all Bush's fault (/sarc) (and I live in Lake George actually).
Wearing a life vest isn't gonna help much if you're trapped inside. I just hope someone doesn't decide to protect us all from ourselves now and REQUIRE them to be worn at all times by everyone on boats. It sounds like a great rescue effort was made by all the folks who saw this happen. Hats off to them.
I just read a third article that says the original reports of the tourists being from Canada was inaccurate. It's now being reported that they are from Michigan.
Bush's fault he has the Coast Guard in New Orleans where the Naitonal Guard was to be but can't because they are in Iraq (/sarc) I have a bridge to sell in Brooklyn.
If idiots wanna die let em...more oxygen for the rest of us
I like your sarcasm, and/or your facetiousness. Too many folks are not clever enough to understand.
Series/ we have a wife who is married to an expert slalom water skiier. She cannot swim. However, she always wants to be on our boat. My proviso is that she wear a life preserver. She hates my guts because her lifted boobs are covered up.
Regardless, those are my rules of engagement.
Sounds like something that happens in India or Africa or Mexico, not the US.
What kind of comment is that?
Does anyone know if the Captain and or other members of the crew survived?
FOXNews said the captain was the only crew member aboard and that he survived. I'm guessing he probably saw it coming and knew how to get out. Poor guy to have to live with that.
I don't understand. How could so many die, why weren't they able to get out?
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