Posted on 10/04/2005 1:46:05 PM PDT by Graybeard58
LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. (AP) -- The owner of the boat that capsized on Lake George, killing 20 elderly tourists, could face a fine as low as $25 for failing to have enough crew members on board, police said Tuesday.
As divers searched for evidence and the victims' belongings, State Police Maj. Gerald Meyer told reporters that a state inspector determined in May the 38-foot Ethan Allen needed one crew member besides the captain because it carried up to 48 passengers.
The captain, 74-year-old Richard Paris, was the only crew member aboard when the boat, with 47 passengers, overturned Sunday afternoon during what was supposed to be a relaxing, one-hour fall foliage tour for a group of senior citizens. He was among the 28 survivors.
The state late Monday suspended the operating certificates for all five tour boats run by Shoreline Cruises after the determination that one crew member was aboard, said Wendy Gibson, spokeswoman for the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
Meyer said the fine for violating state navigation regulations is between $25 and $100.
The Ethan Allen was hauled out of the lake late Monday night and taken to a county airport, where National Transportation Safety Board investigators were to examine the vessel to determine why it capsized.
"The inspector made the determination that there was in fact an additional crew required for that vessel and did list one crew in addition to the pilot on that permit," Meyer said.
The Ethan Allen has a maximum capacity of 50 people - 48 passengers and two crew, Gibson said earlier. Commercial boats in New York that carry between 21 and 48 passengers must have two crew members.
Police said a wave from a passing boat and a sudden shift of passengers' weight on the boat's long benches may have factored into the capsizing. An investigation is ongoing.
"The bottom line is, any one of these little factors could not have upset the boat," said Warren County Sheriff Larry Cleveland. "If four or five of these came together, it's possible."
State officials originally suspended the certificates for two small boats similar to the Ethan Allen, but Gibson said they had expanded the suspension to include the Adirondac and the Horicon, larger cruise ships carry 400 and 200 guests, respectively.
At a brief appearance at the lakeside Tuesday afternoon, Shoreline Cruises owner James Quirk said he and his company are "shocked and saddened by Sunday's tragic event" and said the company had a perfect record in 27 years in the boat business. He said he had met with some of the survivors and the company was offering assistance to them.
Cleveland cautioned not to draw conclusions from the suspended certificates. "I do not believe there is any criminal culpability on any of the parties we have spoken with," he said.
The captain of the glass-enclosed boat told authorities it was hit by waves from at least one other vessel and turned over as he tried to steer out of them, authorities said.
The boat flipped so fast that no passenger could put on a life jacket. Forty-six passengers were from Michigan, with one from Ohio. Eight people were hospitalized with shortness of breath, broken bones and other injuries.
State Police Superintendent Wayne Bennett said passengers either slid or were thrown to one side of the boat after it began lurching. "And that, of course, would automatically mean an even bigger shift of weight," Bennett said.
The Ethan Allen was rated for 50 passengers based on the Coast Guard standard of 150 pounds per person. Cleveland said that standard may have to be revised in light of data showing Americans growing fatter.
On Monday afternoon, crews using inflatable bags raised the sunken boat 70 feet to the surface. Orange life vests could be seen floating inside. The search continued for other items.
"We know there are articles on the bottom," Cleveland said. "We're trying to get all those things put back together so we can get them returned."
Only Colorado, Indiana and New Hampshire require adults to wear life preservers when a boat is motion, said Melissa Savage of the National Conference of State Legislatures. No state has special laws governing boaters who are elderly or infirm.
The Lake George Park Commission and the sheriff's department are responsible for enforcing safety on the lake, and they may reconsider the rules governing crew size and life jacket use, particularly when elderly or infirm passengers are involved, said James Hood, a spokesman for the advocacy group called the Lake George Association.
"It seems like a logical question or at least something to review," Hood said.
The captain was not tested for drug or alcohol after the accident. The sheriff said he had no legal grounds for administering such a test. The sheriff also said Paris had a state license, rather than a Coast Guard one, which would have required a test for drugs or alcohol.
The boat was last inspected in May and no problems were found, officials said.
Oh, the fine might be low, but the toll from the lawsuits will be high. This company will shortly be out of business.
Seems to me that they were foolish for not requiring life vests for all passengers.
JMHO
Seems fair, Thats all he will have left after the lawsuits...Which all the families deserve.
One word: Titanic. Basic boat safety. life preservers, anyone? Or perhaps, seats attached to the deck?
Wakes are an expected thing to most boaters.
Now there will be too many " wakes"
That part is interesting. Perhaps one could argue in favor of Coast Guard license requirement for captain license for commercial enterprises. I wonder what other differences there are?
We were on a 35 footer (I think) out of Depot Bay doing the whale watching thing years ago. People would shift from one side to the other looking for whales and the boat was never in danger of tipping over from what I could tell.
But in that case it was a fishing boat (not “tour boat” whatever that is) that the guy used for whale watching when he wasn’t fishing, so maybe that’s the difference.
I remember seeing a show about some giant container ships out of Norway or somewhere. They have to be careful loading/unloading so they don’t tip it, but it sounded like that was because they were riding high.
They said that when the ship was out to sea they’d take on water and it’d ride a lot lower and smoother and was more stable. But then when they came into dock they’d pump the water out so it would sit up higher and that made it more susceptible to tipping or something.
I can tell you that any boat carrying passengers for hire requires a Coast Guard license. I can't believe there is such a thing as a 'state' captain's license.
Lake George is controlled by the State of New York, and is not considered under the jurisdiction of the Coast Guard or any federal authority. The sheriff there explained it in yesterday's press conference.
That's incredible. The passenger boats here at Lake of the Ozarks require a minimum of a USCG 100 ton ticket.
I think the "heirs" of any lawsuit may be all dressed up--but there'll be no one to sue.
This was obviously a freak accident or these things would happen more often.
It would be highly unusual to require the passengers to wear life jackets unless there was a severe storm or other emergency. You can't fault them on that issue.
It does sound as if the pilot may have turned the boat at the wrong moment to avoid the wake, and as I speculated earlier maybe it was a combination of the wake, the sudden sharp turn, and the passengers all moving to one side of the boat, all at the same time. Evidently it was loaded to capacity.
If the wake was that severe, you have to wonder what the pilot was doing when he should have taken earlier measures to avoid it.
But it was also, evidently, a poorly designed boat, evidently some kind of flat-bottomed, shallow draft lake boat that might not tip easily but if it did tip would go right over. Which it did.
There's no doubt that this company will be sued, bankrupted, and go out of business. There's no way they can survive an accident like this with no storm to excuse it. Possibly the owners of the boat that made the wake, and may have gone by too close and too fast, will also be sued.
The boat was at its limit or above. The idea that 150 lbs per person is average is really phony when you have all adults in the boat especially senior citizens who run a bit to fat anyway. the boat as I see it was a round bottom boat they roll a lot on good days. Two crewman or 10 couldnt have stopped that boat from turning turtle. As for life jackets there is always someone who will find fault with not wearing them just as they find fault with no helmets on motorcyclists. OIf course if the passengers had known the boat was going to turn over they would have worn life jackets. Just as I as a passenger in a car could look forward to an accident I wouldnt even be in the car. Stuff happens , and all the big brothers in the world wont stop it.
what would one more crew member have done except added to the body count?
On a lake, bay or sound on a nice weather day there really is no need for them. If a pax feels like wearing one they are welcome to do so.
These are Type Three, USCG approved life vests. They are bulky, hot and uncomfortable, meant only to save lives.
DH is a captain for twenty years and cannot figure out how this accident could be caused by wake action. We will have to wait and see.
Death by bacon and cheese.
I tend to agree. A wake may have initiated the capsizing of this boat, but presumably this boat had handled wakes before while loaded to capacity without capsizing. I suspect the boat may have been too close to instability when fully loaded normally, and something this time pushed it over the edge. Which to me suggests that maybe its capacity rating was too high to start with.
38 foot boat with 47 passengers...
The CG stability test requires that you have the weight of the number of passengers its certified for one one side of the vessel. The boat can only heel 15 degrees (22.5 for sailboats). Otherwise the number of passengers would be reduced.
Life may be different uner NY state rules. But these are the CG rules from personal experience.
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