BREAKING NEWS: Major boat accident in Upstate NY; 21 dead
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Brent
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BREAKING NEWS: Major boat accident in Upstate NY; 21 dead
Fox News just reported a tour boat carrying approximately 50 people has overturned on Lake George in Upstate New York. Unconfirmed reports say more than a dozen may be dead.
Last edited by Brent on Mon Oct 03, 2005 10:20 am, edited 2 times in total.
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The death toll has risen to 21. 
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At least 21 killed when boat overturns in upstate NY
LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. (AP) — A postcard perfect day of sailing along a placid mountain lake suddenly turned horrific when a tour boat with many senior citizens aboard flipped over so quickly that no one could put on a life jacket. Twenty-one people were killed and dozens more injured.
Police initially said the 40-foot Ethan Allen was swamped Sunday by the wake of a larger tour boat nearby and capsized, throwing its 48 or 49 passengers into the chilly, 68 degree water. Later Sunday, police said they didn't know the cause and the investigation would continue.
"The boat was sideways in the water, and people were screaming," Joanne Rahal, who was in a boat on Lake George when the Ethan Allen flipped, told The Saratogian newspaper. "Bodies were floating by our boat."
U.S. Rep. John Sweeney, who talked with survivors at the hospital, said the boat flipped in about 30 seconds, giving victims no time to react. The sheriff said none of the passengers was able to put on a life jacket.
Adult boat passengers are not required to wear life jackets in New York, but boats must carry at least one life jacket per person.
"I saw plenty of life jackets in the water, but nobody was in them," Rick Sause, whose family runs a motel near where the accident took place, told the newspaper.
Many of the bodies were laid out along the shore, and the site was blocked off by police with tarps. A hearse, police vehicles and several sport utility vehicles later began taking the dead from the scene.
The glass-enclosed boat was carrying a tour group from the Trenton, Mich., area, and was sailing just north of the village of Lake George, a popular tourist destination about 50 miles north of Albany in the Adirondack Mountains.
With calm waters, clear skies and temperatures in the 70s, it seemed perfect boating weather and the lake bustled with activity. The lake is approximately 32 miles long and is nearly 3 miles wide.
Trenton, Mich., Mayor Gerald Brown, whose community is about 20 miles south of Detroit, said 14 of the passengers were part of a group that left Tuesday on a weeklong bus-and-rail trip to see changing fall colors along the East Coast.
Of the 14, three were killed, and 11 survived, Brown said. He said 11 of the group were from Trenton, including a Parks and Recreation Department employee. Two others were from Gibraltar and one was from Lincoln Park.
The trip was arranged through Canadian-based Shoreline Tours, Brown said. Representatives of Shoreline could not immediately be reached for comment by The Associated Press.
"It's a sad time in our community. We're a small community, and we handle things differently in small communities," Brown said. "We know names. We know faces. We have relatives. It's all intertwined. It's a sad day for us."
Twenty-seven people were taken to a hospital in nearby Glens Falls. Some suffered broken ribs and others complained of shortness of breath. Seven survivors were admitted, hospital spokesman Jason White said.
He said the hospital had received 21 bodies.
Officials gave conflicting information on the number of dead and passengers. Warren County Sheriff Larry Cleveland said there were 48 or 49 people aboard, which was close to the boat's maximum capacity of 50.
The National Transportation Safety Board arrived on the scene early Monday. Police investigators were at the hospital late Sunday to question survivors and get an accurate count.
Police said the boat pilot was interviewed. The New York Times reported that investigators had not tested Richard Paris for drug or alcohol use because there was no evidence of intoxication.
The boat's owner, Jim Quirk, whose family has operated Shoreline Cruises for decades, told the Glens Falls Post-Star: "It is a tragedy and it's very unfortunate."
The boat was last inspected in May 2005 and no problems were found, according to Wendy Gibson, spokeswoman for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
As dusk fell, several police boats were on the water, and at least half a dozen divers were in a small cove on the west side of the lake. The Ethan Allen lay at the bottom of the lake in 70 feet of water.
"It should have been a day of enjoyment," said state police Superintendent Wayne Bennett, who was out boating on the lake earlier Sunday. "Instead, it was one of sadness."
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At least 21 killed when boat overturns in upstate NY
LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. (AP) — A postcard perfect day of sailing along a placid mountain lake suddenly turned horrific when a tour boat with many senior citizens aboard flipped over so quickly that no one could put on a life jacket. Twenty-one people were killed and dozens more injured.
Police initially said the 40-foot Ethan Allen was swamped Sunday by the wake of a larger tour boat nearby and capsized, throwing its 48 or 49 passengers into the chilly, 68 degree water. Later Sunday, police said they didn't know the cause and the investigation would continue.
"The boat was sideways in the water, and people were screaming," Joanne Rahal, who was in a boat on Lake George when the Ethan Allen flipped, told The Saratogian newspaper. "Bodies were floating by our boat."
U.S. Rep. John Sweeney, who talked with survivors at the hospital, said the boat flipped in about 30 seconds, giving victims no time to react. The sheriff said none of the passengers was able to put on a life jacket.
Adult boat passengers are not required to wear life jackets in New York, but boats must carry at least one life jacket per person.
"I saw plenty of life jackets in the water, but nobody was in them," Rick Sause, whose family runs a motel near where the accident took place, told the newspaper.
Many of the bodies were laid out along the shore, and the site was blocked off by police with tarps. A hearse, police vehicles and several sport utility vehicles later began taking the dead from the scene.
The glass-enclosed boat was carrying a tour group from the Trenton, Mich., area, and was sailing just north of the village of Lake George, a popular tourist destination about 50 miles north of Albany in the Adirondack Mountains.
With calm waters, clear skies and temperatures in the 70s, it seemed perfect boating weather and the lake bustled with activity. The lake is approximately 32 miles long and is nearly 3 miles wide.
Trenton, Mich., Mayor Gerald Brown, whose community is about 20 miles south of Detroit, said 14 of the passengers were part of a group that left Tuesday on a weeklong bus-and-rail trip to see changing fall colors along the East Coast.
Of the 14, three were killed, and 11 survived, Brown said. He said 11 of the group were from Trenton, including a Parks and Recreation Department employee. Two others were from Gibraltar and one was from Lincoln Park.
The trip was arranged through Canadian-based Shoreline Tours, Brown said. Representatives of Shoreline could not immediately be reached for comment by The Associated Press.
"It's a sad time in our community. We're a small community, and we handle things differently in small communities," Brown said. "We know names. We know faces. We have relatives. It's all intertwined. It's a sad day for us."
Twenty-seven people were taken to a hospital in nearby Glens Falls. Some suffered broken ribs and others complained of shortness of breath. Seven survivors were admitted, hospital spokesman Jason White said.
He said the hospital had received 21 bodies.
Officials gave conflicting information on the number of dead and passengers. Warren County Sheriff Larry Cleveland said there were 48 or 49 people aboard, which was close to the boat's maximum capacity of 50.
The National Transportation Safety Board arrived on the scene early Monday. Police investigators were at the hospital late Sunday to question survivors and get an accurate count.
Police said the boat pilot was interviewed. The New York Times reported that investigators had not tested Richard Paris for drug or alcohol use because there was no evidence of intoxication.
The boat's owner, Jim Quirk, whose family has operated Shoreline Cruises for decades, told the Glens Falls Post-Star: "It is a tragedy and it's very unfortunate."
The boat was last inspected in May 2005 and no problems were found, according to Wendy Gibson, spokeswoman for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
As dusk fell, several police boats were on the water, and at least half a dozen divers were in a small cove on the west side of the lake. The Ethan Allen lay at the bottom of the lake in 70 feet of water.
"It should have been a day of enjoyment," said state police Superintendent Wayne Bennett, who was out boating on the lake earlier Sunday. "Instead, it was one of sadness."
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TexasStooge
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Captain: Waves hit boat before disaster
LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. (AP) — The captain of a tour boat that capsized, killing 20 people, told authorities it was hit by waves from another vessel or vessels and went over as he tried to steer out of them, authorities said Monday.
The postcard perfect day of sailing on Lake George suddenly turned horrific Sunday when the 40-foot boat the Ethan Allen flipped over so quickly that none of the 47 passengers could put on a life jacket. Seven people were hospitalized.
All the passengers were from Michigan, Warren County Sheriff Larry Cleveland said Monday. Their names were not immediately disclosed. A hospital spokesman had earlier put the toll at 21, but Cleveland said it was 20.
"The boat was sideways in the water, and people were screaming," said Joanne Rahal, who was in a boat when the Ethan Allen flipped. "Bodies were floating by our boat."
"We were just cruising along, and all of a sudden, the boat tipped. We thought it was kind of like a joke," Ann Mae Hawley, 74, told the Glens Falls Post-Star. "Next thing I knew, I was in the water under the boat.
"I could see my husband, and I called to him, but he didn't respond. I don't know where he is now."
The sheriff said none of the passengers was able to put on a life jacket. "Some of the victims were in fact found still trapped in the boat by divers," he said.
The National Transportation Safety Board arrived on the scene early Monday.
There had been hundreds of boats on Lake George on the sunny Sunday afternoon, causing "a lot of wave action," Cleveland said.
Investigators had not tested Richard Paris, who is an experienced boat captain, for drug or alcohol use because there was no evidence of intoxication, the sheriff said. He said there didn't appear to be any criminal conduct. Paris was the sole crew member on board with the 47 passengers.
Many of the bodies were laid out along the shore Sunday, and the site was blocked off by police with tarps. A hearse, police vehicles and several sport utility vehicles later began taking the dead from the scene.
Adult boat passengers are not required to wear life jackets in New York, but boats must carry at least one life jacket per person.
The glass-enclosed boat was carrying a tour group from the Trenton, Mich., area, and was sailing just north of the village of Lake George, a popular tourist destination about 50 miles north of Albany in the Adirondack Mountains.
With calm waters, clear skies and temperatures in the 70s, it seemed perfect boating weather and the lake bustled with activity. The lake is approximately 32 miles long and nearly 3 miles wide.
Trenton, Mich., Mayor Gerald Brown, whose community is about 20 miles south of Detroit, said 14 of the passengers were part of a group, mostly from Trenton, that left Tuesday on a weeklong bus-and-rail trip to see changing fall colors along the East Coast.
Of the 14, three were killed, and 11 survived, Brown said.
"It's a sad time in our community. We're a small community, and we handle things differently in small communities," Brown said. "We know names. We know faces. We have relatives. It's all intertwined. It's a sad day for us."
The trip was arranged through Canadian-based Shoreline Tours, Brown said. Representatives of Shoreline could not immediately be reached for comment by The Associated Press.
A separate company, Shoreline Cruises, owns the boat. Jim Quirk, whose family has operated the company for decades, told the Glens Falls Post-Star: "It is a tragedy and it's very unfortunate."
Twenty-seven people were taken to a hospital in nearby Glens Falls. Some suffered broken ribs and others complained of shortness of breath. Seven survivors were admitted, hospital spokesman Jason White said.
Cleveland said there were 47 passengers and the captain onboard, close to the boat's maximum capacity of 50.
The boat was last inspected in May and no problems were found, according to Wendy Gibson, spokeswoman for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
At daybreak Monday, the lake's surface was glassy, with a buoy 100 yards offshore where the tour boat sunk in 70 feet of water. The yard where survivors and bodies were brought was still cordoned off with police tape and littered with water bottles and other debris.
"It should have been a day of enjoyment," said state police Superintendent Wayne Bennett, who was out boating on the lake earlier Sunday. "Instead, it was one of sadness."
LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. (AP) — The captain of a tour boat that capsized, killing 20 people, told authorities it was hit by waves from another vessel or vessels and went over as he tried to steer out of them, authorities said Monday.
The postcard perfect day of sailing on Lake George suddenly turned horrific Sunday when the 40-foot boat the Ethan Allen flipped over so quickly that none of the 47 passengers could put on a life jacket. Seven people were hospitalized.
All the passengers were from Michigan, Warren County Sheriff Larry Cleveland said Monday. Their names were not immediately disclosed. A hospital spokesman had earlier put the toll at 21, but Cleveland said it was 20.
"The boat was sideways in the water, and people were screaming," said Joanne Rahal, who was in a boat when the Ethan Allen flipped. "Bodies were floating by our boat."
"We were just cruising along, and all of a sudden, the boat tipped. We thought it was kind of like a joke," Ann Mae Hawley, 74, told the Glens Falls Post-Star. "Next thing I knew, I was in the water under the boat.
"I could see my husband, and I called to him, but he didn't respond. I don't know where he is now."
The sheriff said none of the passengers was able to put on a life jacket. "Some of the victims were in fact found still trapped in the boat by divers," he said.
The National Transportation Safety Board arrived on the scene early Monday.
There had been hundreds of boats on Lake George on the sunny Sunday afternoon, causing "a lot of wave action," Cleveland said.
Investigators had not tested Richard Paris, who is an experienced boat captain, for drug or alcohol use because there was no evidence of intoxication, the sheriff said. He said there didn't appear to be any criminal conduct. Paris was the sole crew member on board with the 47 passengers.
Many of the bodies were laid out along the shore Sunday, and the site was blocked off by police with tarps. A hearse, police vehicles and several sport utility vehicles later began taking the dead from the scene.
Adult boat passengers are not required to wear life jackets in New York, but boats must carry at least one life jacket per person.
The glass-enclosed boat was carrying a tour group from the Trenton, Mich., area, and was sailing just north of the village of Lake George, a popular tourist destination about 50 miles north of Albany in the Adirondack Mountains.
With calm waters, clear skies and temperatures in the 70s, it seemed perfect boating weather and the lake bustled with activity. The lake is approximately 32 miles long and nearly 3 miles wide.
Trenton, Mich., Mayor Gerald Brown, whose community is about 20 miles south of Detroit, said 14 of the passengers were part of a group, mostly from Trenton, that left Tuesday on a weeklong bus-and-rail trip to see changing fall colors along the East Coast.
Of the 14, three were killed, and 11 survived, Brown said.
"It's a sad time in our community. We're a small community, and we handle things differently in small communities," Brown said. "We know names. We know faces. We have relatives. It's all intertwined. It's a sad day for us."
The trip was arranged through Canadian-based Shoreline Tours, Brown said. Representatives of Shoreline could not immediately be reached for comment by The Associated Press.
A separate company, Shoreline Cruises, owns the boat. Jim Quirk, whose family has operated the company for decades, told the Glens Falls Post-Star: "It is a tragedy and it's very unfortunate."
Twenty-seven people were taken to a hospital in nearby Glens Falls. Some suffered broken ribs and others complained of shortness of breath. Seven survivors were admitted, hospital spokesman Jason White said.
Cleveland said there were 47 passengers and the captain onboard, close to the boat's maximum capacity of 50.
The boat was last inspected in May and no problems were found, according to Wendy Gibson, spokeswoman for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
At daybreak Monday, the lake's surface was glassy, with a buoy 100 yards offshore where the tour boat sunk in 70 feet of water. The yard where survivors and bodies were brought was still cordoned off with police tape and littered with water bottles and other debris.
"It should have been a day of enjoyment," said state police Superintendent Wayne Bennett, who was out boating on the lake earlier Sunday. "Instead, it was one of sadness."
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First things first...I'd seize the records of the company that owns the boat...
Saw the news this morning...from the fuzzy photos provided by the news, it looks as if this boat, the "Ethan Allen", was an old 36ft motor life boat that's obviously been modified after leaving CG service or Canadian CG service - these boats were very common in both services and were even exported to the UK.
Very unfortunate...this boat was obviously removed from service for a reason; usually due to age or condition. Also looks like there were some extensive modifications done to the superstructure...i.e. the glass enclosure and installed overhead.
May seem very minor to someone without an eye for naval architecture, but adding all that stuff topside makes the boat top-heavy and slow to react to rolls. The on-scene witnesses said there were numerous boats in the area, including one vessel in particular, that were producing huge wakes. Wakes are a series of waves produced by the displacement of water created by the boat's hull moving through the water at a certain speed...much like a plow moving through soil. The "series" and timing between the waves are critical...the first wave renders the boat dynamically unstable, the second to lay the boat over on its beam and the third and fourth wave to hold it there and eventually capsize the vessel...
Those boats are extremely sea worthy in their original configuration. Unmodified MLB's are self-bailing (draining) and self-righting (turn "right-side up" if inverted), but not if weighed down with water that cannot drain out because of that enclosed glass superstructure.
A couple of CG MLB's playing in the surf...old school...
The "Ethan Allen" courtesy CNN.com:
Now...A US Coast Guard 36ft Motor Life Boat (MLB)
See a similarity in the structures above the gunwales? I'd be curious to see a hull history on that boat...
Saw the news this morning...from the fuzzy photos provided by the news, it looks as if this boat, the "Ethan Allen", was an old 36ft motor life boat that's obviously been modified after leaving CG service or Canadian CG service - these boats were very common in both services and were even exported to the UK.
Very unfortunate...this boat was obviously removed from service for a reason; usually due to age or condition. Also looks like there were some extensive modifications done to the superstructure...i.e. the glass enclosure and installed overhead.
May seem very minor to someone without an eye for naval architecture, but adding all that stuff topside makes the boat top-heavy and slow to react to rolls. The on-scene witnesses said there were numerous boats in the area, including one vessel in particular, that were producing huge wakes. Wakes are a series of waves produced by the displacement of water created by the boat's hull moving through the water at a certain speed...much like a plow moving through soil. The "series" and timing between the waves are critical...the first wave renders the boat dynamically unstable, the second to lay the boat over on its beam and the third and fourth wave to hold it there and eventually capsize the vessel...
Those boats are extremely sea worthy in their original configuration. Unmodified MLB's are self-bailing (draining) and self-righting (turn "right-side up" if inverted), but not if weighed down with water that cannot drain out because of that enclosed glass superstructure.
A couple of CG MLB's playing in the surf...old school...
The "Ethan Allen" courtesy CNN.com:
Now...A US Coast Guard 36ft Motor Life Boat (MLB)
See a similarity in the structures above the gunwales? I'd be curious to see a hull history on that boat...
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TexasStooge
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Tour boat didn't have enough crew members
State suspends company's licenses
LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. (AP) – A tour boat that capsized on a New York lake, killing 20 people, did not have the required number of crew members aboard, leading state regulators to suspend licenses for all five vessels belonging to the company that operated the tour, officials said Monday.
The Ethan Allen, which overturned Sunday on Lake George while carrying 47 elderly tourists, was required by state boating regulations to have two crew members, said Wendy Gibson, spokeswoman for the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
Any commercial boat that carries 21 to 48 passengers must have two crew members, she said.
Authorities have said the only crew member aboard was Capt. Richard Paris.
“If that's the case, there's going to be a problem, and it looks like that's the direction this is headed in,” Warren County Sheriff Larry Cleveland said.
Earlier in the day, officials had said state rules allowed for just one crewman for up to 50 passengers.
State regulators originally suspended the licenses for two small boats similar to the Ethan Allen, but Gibson said they had expanded the suspension to include two larger vessels that carry 400 and 200 passengers, compared with the smaller boats that carry between 30 and 50 people.
Earlier Monday, authorities said the passengers aboard the tour boat were sitting on long benches and slid sharply to one side of the vessel just before it flipped over.
State police Superintendent Wayne Bennett said that investigators do not know what initially caused the Ethan Allen to tip. But he 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. Earlier in the day, Bennett said the seats were not secured to deck. But later, state police said that was incorrect.
The captain of the 40-foot 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 earlier Monday. The boat flipped so fast that none of the 47 passengers – all senior citizens, most of them from Michigan – could put on a life jacket.
New York state regulations require that life jackets be made available for every person on a boat, but people do not have to wear them.
There was no immediate confirmation that another boat that could have churned up waves was in the area, and survivors were giving investigators differing versions of what happened before the boat went down in calm, sunny weather, authorities said.
Eight people were hospitalized with shortness of breath, broken bones and other injuries.
On Monday afternoon, crews using inflatable bags raised the sunken vessel 70 feet to the surface. They planned to pump it out and tow it to shore. National Transportation Safety Board investigators will then examine the wreck.
Mark Rosenker, NTSB acting chairman, said investigators would focus on such things as the history of the boat, the pilot's record, whether the boat had enough crew members, and whether the number of passengers played a role in the accident.
“It's much too early to determine what happened out on that lake,” Rosenker said.
Rep. John Sweeney, R.-N.Y., said investigators are looking at whether there was too much weight on board the boat, even though the vessel was just below its capacity of 50 people. He said the Coast Guard assumes a weight of 150 pounds per person in calculating a vessel's capacity – an assumption he said may have been off the mark.
A survivor, 76-year-old old Jeane Siler of Trenton, Mich., said that she saw a wake coming and that the boat turned into it. She said she stood up and was either thrown or jumped into the water, where she found herself surrounded by other passengers. She suffered broken bones in her spine, a broken finger and bumps on her head.
Virgil Chambers, executive director of the National Safe Boating Council, an organization for recreational boaters, said investigators would probably examine how weight was distributed within the boat.
“If all the people were on one side, maybe to look at something, and if the operator were to take the boat over a wave at a particular angle, it could cause the boat to roll,” Chambers said.
Chambers said he also expected investigators to look into whether there were any modifications to the craft, such as the addition of a canopy, that might have made the boat less stable.
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. Also, the sheriff 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, state officials said.
Hundreds of boats were on the long, narrow lake about 50 miles north of Albany in the Adirondack Mountains, on the sunny Sunday afternoon, causing “a lot of wave action,” Cleveland said.
When the Ethan Allen went over, people from nearby boats converged to try to rescue victims. Witnesses described a chaotic scene as the older victims, some of whom relied on walkers, cried out.
“The boat was sideways in the water, and people were screaming,” said Joanne Rahal, who was in a boat when the Ethan Allen flipped. “Bodies were floating by our boat.”
“We were just cruising along, and all of a sudden, the boat tipped. We thought it was kind of like a joke,” Ann Mae Hawley, 74, told the Glens Falls Post-Star. “Next thing I knew, I was in the water under the boat. I could see my husband, and I called to him, but he didn't respond. I don't know where he is now.”
A former captain of the boat, William Huus, said the Ethan Allen would list to the left when fully loaded because of the way the seats were configured. But he said he never had a problem with the boat. “I carried hours and hours and hours on that boat and she was, I thought, a very safe boat,” Huus said.
A woman who answered the door at Paris' house and identified herself as the captain's wife said he was out of the house and would have no comment.
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 states have special laws governing boaters who are elderly or infirm.
The Lake George Park Association and the sheriff's department are responsible for enforcing safety on the lake, and 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 association.
“It seems like a logical question or at least something to review,” Hood said.
The trip was arranged through Canadian-based Shoreline Tours, which did not immediately return a call for comment. A separate company, Shoreline Cruises, owns the boat. It issued a statement saying it was “deeply saddened by yesterday's tragedy.”
State suspends company's licenses
LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. (AP) – A tour boat that capsized on a New York lake, killing 20 people, did not have the required number of crew members aboard, leading state regulators to suspend licenses for all five vessels belonging to the company that operated the tour, officials said Monday.
The Ethan Allen, which overturned Sunday on Lake George while carrying 47 elderly tourists, was required by state boating regulations to have two crew members, said Wendy Gibson, spokeswoman for the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
Any commercial boat that carries 21 to 48 passengers must have two crew members, she said.
Authorities have said the only crew member aboard was Capt. Richard Paris.
“If that's the case, there's going to be a problem, and it looks like that's the direction this is headed in,” Warren County Sheriff Larry Cleveland said.
Earlier in the day, officials had said state rules allowed for just one crewman for up to 50 passengers.
State regulators originally suspended the licenses for two small boats similar to the Ethan Allen, but Gibson said they had expanded the suspension to include two larger vessels that carry 400 and 200 passengers, compared with the smaller boats that carry between 30 and 50 people.
Earlier Monday, authorities said the passengers aboard the tour boat were sitting on long benches and slid sharply to one side of the vessel just before it flipped over.
State police Superintendent Wayne Bennett said that investigators do not know what initially caused the Ethan Allen to tip. But he 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. Earlier in the day, Bennett said the seats were not secured to deck. But later, state police said that was incorrect.
The captain of the 40-foot 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 earlier Monday. The boat flipped so fast that none of the 47 passengers – all senior citizens, most of them from Michigan – could put on a life jacket.
New York state regulations require that life jackets be made available for every person on a boat, but people do not have to wear them.
There was no immediate confirmation that another boat that could have churned up waves was in the area, and survivors were giving investigators differing versions of what happened before the boat went down in calm, sunny weather, authorities said.
Eight people were hospitalized with shortness of breath, broken bones and other injuries.
On Monday afternoon, crews using inflatable bags raised the sunken vessel 70 feet to the surface. They planned to pump it out and tow it to shore. National Transportation Safety Board investigators will then examine the wreck.
Mark Rosenker, NTSB acting chairman, said investigators would focus on such things as the history of the boat, the pilot's record, whether the boat had enough crew members, and whether the number of passengers played a role in the accident.
“It's much too early to determine what happened out on that lake,” Rosenker said.
Rep. John Sweeney, R.-N.Y., said investigators are looking at whether there was too much weight on board the boat, even though the vessel was just below its capacity of 50 people. He said the Coast Guard assumes a weight of 150 pounds per person in calculating a vessel's capacity – an assumption he said may have been off the mark.
A survivor, 76-year-old old Jeane Siler of Trenton, Mich., said that she saw a wake coming and that the boat turned into it. She said she stood up and was either thrown or jumped into the water, where she found herself surrounded by other passengers. She suffered broken bones in her spine, a broken finger and bumps on her head.
Virgil Chambers, executive director of the National Safe Boating Council, an organization for recreational boaters, said investigators would probably examine how weight was distributed within the boat.
“If all the people were on one side, maybe to look at something, and if the operator were to take the boat over a wave at a particular angle, it could cause the boat to roll,” Chambers said.
Chambers said he also expected investigators to look into whether there were any modifications to the craft, such as the addition of a canopy, that might have made the boat less stable.
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. Also, the sheriff 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, state officials said.
Hundreds of boats were on the long, narrow lake about 50 miles north of Albany in the Adirondack Mountains, on the sunny Sunday afternoon, causing “a lot of wave action,” Cleveland said.
When the Ethan Allen went over, people from nearby boats converged to try to rescue victims. Witnesses described a chaotic scene as the older victims, some of whom relied on walkers, cried out.
“The boat was sideways in the water, and people were screaming,” said Joanne Rahal, who was in a boat when the Ethan Allen flipped. “Bodies were floating by our boat.”
“We were just cruising along, and all of a sudden, the boat tipped. We thought it was kind of like a joke,” Ann Mae Hawley, 74, told the Glens Falls Post-Star. “Next thing I knew, I was in the water under the boat. I could see my husband, and I called to him, but he didn't respond. I don't know where he is now.”
A former captain of the boat, William Huus, said the Ethan Allen would list to the left when fully loaded because of the way the seats were configured. But he said he never had a problem with the boat. “I carried hours and hours and hours on that boat and she was, I thought, a very safe boat,” Huus said.
A woman who answered the door at Paris' house and identified herself as the captain's wife said he was out of the house and would have no comment.
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 states have special laws governing boaters who are elderly or infirm.
The Lake George Park Association and the sheriff's department are responsible for enforcing safety on the lake, and 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 association.
“It seems like a logical question or at least something to review,” Hood said.
The trip was arranged through Canadian-based Shoreline Tours, which did not immediately return a call for comment. A separate company, Shoreline Cruises, owns the boat. It issued a statement saying it was “deeply saddened by yesterday's tragedy.”
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USCG_Hurricane_Watcher
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TexasStooge wrote:Tour boat didn't have enough crew members
“If all the people were on one side, maybe to look at something, and if the operator were to take the boat over a wave at a particular angle, it could cause the boat to roll,” Chambers said.
Chambers said he also expected investigators to look into whether there were any modifications to the craft, such as the addition of a canopy, that might have made the boat less stable.
...My point exactly...
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TexasStooge
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Lewisville firefighters dive for safer waters
By JOHN MCCAA / WFAA ABC 8
LEWISVILLE, Texas - After Sunday's tragic tour boat accident on Lake George killed 20, a new light on the importance rescue dive teams play has many people wondering how safe they are in their own local waters.
Lake Lewisville has almost two million visitors a year, which is exactly why the Lewisville Fire Department has what no other fire department in the country has - a dive tank.
The Lewisville Fire Department has a specialized dive team that has trained for similar disasters as the recent tragedy in New York. Almost 60 Lewisville firefighters are dive certified.
While the firefighters have trained to search and rescue through smoke-filled burning buildings where visibility is zero, similar drills are enacted to ensure rescue teams can confidently navigate in the murky waters of Lake Lewisville.
"When we are diving, a lot of times your mask can get knocked off [and] your regulator can get taken out," said Rick Lasky, Lewisville fire chief. "...You learn not to panic."
Starting the firefighters and instructors at spots where visibility is clear and instructors can check them off, training courses slowly move rescuers into darker waters to decrease what they can see.
Rescue divers are taught to see through their hands and their sense of touch.
The Lewisville rescue team said they are confident that the exercises and training courses will pay off when a matter of minutes in dark lake waters can make the difference between life and death.
"By doing these little skills in this environment, then when you are in the water and your 30 to 60 feet down, you can then handle these little incidents without any problem," Lasky said.
So, they continue to train to make the Lewisville waters safer.
"...The more we swim, the better we get," said David Wright, Lewisville firefighter.
By JOHN MCCAA / WFAA ABC 8
LEWISVILLE, Texas - After Sunday's tragic tour boat accident on Lake George killed 20, a new light on the importance rescue dive teams play has many people wondering how safe they are in their own local waters.
Lake Lewisville has almost two million visitors a year, which is exactly why the Lewisville Fire Department has what no other fire department in the country has - a dive tank.
The Lewisville Fire Department has a specialized dive team that has trained for similar disasters as the recent tragedy in New York. Almost 60 Lewisville firefighters are dive certified.
While the firefighters have trained to search and rescue through smoke-filled burning buildings where visibility is zero, similar drills are enacted to ensure rescue teams can confidently navigate in the murky waters of Lake Lewisville.
"When we are diving, a lot of times your mask can get knocked off [and] your regulator can get taken out," said Rick Lasky, Lewisville fire chief. "...You learn not to panic."
Starting the firefighters and instructors at spots where visibility is clear and instructors can check them off, training courses slowly move rescuers into darker waters to decrease what they can see.
Rescue divers are taught to see through their hands and their sense of touch.
The Lewisville rescue team said they are confident that the exercises and training courses will pay off when a matter of minutes in dark lake waters can make the difference between life and death.
"By doing these little skills in this environment, then when you are in the water and your 30 to 60 feet down, you can then handle these little incidents without any problem," Lasky said.
So, they continue to train to make the Lewisville waters safer.
"...The more we swim, the better we get," said David Wright, Lewisville firefighter.
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weathermom
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- Location: North Jersey
I understand the legal ramifications of not having a second crewmember on board. I am not sure I understand how much (if any) difference there would have been in the overall outcome of the accident had there been a second crew member. From the accounts we are hearing it all happened very quickly, and having one more person there wouldn't have prevented the accident, nor would the extra person have been able to get life jackets on all in 30-45 seconds ( which is what has been reported as the time it took to capsize).
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