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LAKE GEORGE---The probable cause of the capsizing of the Ethan Allen tour boat on Lake George last October was the vessel's insufficient stability to resist the combined forces of a passing wave or wave, a sharp turn and the resulting involuntary shift of passengers to the port side the vessel.
That's conclusion of the National Transportation Safety Board who released Tuesday its report on its investigation of the accident at a board meeting in Washington, DC. The federal agency had issued a preliminary report on June 30.
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/070206NTSBReports.html
The NTSB said the stability of the 40-foot tour boat was insufficient because it was carrying four times the alleged passenger weight it should have been. The boat carried 48 persons where post-accident stability calculations demonstrated that it should have been permitted to carry only 14 persons. Contributing to the cause of the accident was the failure to reassess the vessel's stability after it had been modified because there was no clear requirement to do so, NTSB officials said.
On Oct. 2, 2005, the Ethan Allen, a tour vessel carrying 47 passengers and one crewmember, capsized in Lake George. As a result of the accident, 20 passengers died. They were senior citizens from Michigan and Ohio, on a fall foliage trip of the lake's shoreline.
"This tragic accident highlights the need for clear requirements to verify a vessel's stability after any modifications are made to the vessel," said NTSB Acting Chairman Mark V. Rosenker.
In early February, the Warren County Sheriff's Department issued a three volume, 530-age report determining that no criminal charges would be brought by the department. Warren County District Attorney Kate Hogan has been awaiting the NTSB report before decided whether or not to impanel a Grand Jury to determine if criminal negligence contributed to or caused the accident.
In 1964, the Ethan Allen, a 40-foot fiberglass excursion vessel operating under a different name, was certified by the U.S. Coast Guard to carry 48 passengers and two crewmembers. In 1979, the boat was purchased by Shoreline Cruises, Inc. and relocated from Connecticut to New York where it came under the jurisdiction of the state. New York state officials established the same load restrictions for the vessel as the U.S. Coast Guard.
In 1989, an all-wood canopy with Plexiglas windows was installed on the Ethan Allen by the Scarano Boat Company of Albany. The state's file on the vessel contains no record of inspections and/or stability assessments relating to modifications to the boat's canopy between 1979 and 1991.
As a result of its investigation, the NTSB has recommended that the U.S. Coast provide guidance to the states on U.S. Coast Guard standards for and assessment stability of small passenger vessels, that New York State address safety deficiencies identified in the investigation of the Ethan Allen accident and issue technical guidance to vessel owners on the inspection requirements for modified vessels, stability assessment and criteria, means for determining maximum safe load conditions, drug and alcohol testing, manning, and safety briefings and discontinue the use of capacity plate data associated with the U.S. Coast Guard's noncommercial boating standards for determining passenger loading on public vessels that carry more than six passengers and adopt the Coast Guard small passenger vessel inspection standards.
Morgan Turrell, NTSB investigator said that the 40-foot boat was built in 1964 in Groton, Conn., and was known as the Double Dolphin. In 1979, the boat was sold to Shoreline, renamed the Ethan Allen and moved to Lake George, leaving Coast Guard jurisdiction. Lake George is not deemed a navigable water and thus is not subject to Coast Guard jurisdiction. The boat was certificated by New York State when it was placed in service on Lake George and certified for 48 passengers and two crew members. The boat was used to conduct one hour sight seeing trips on the south end of the lake.
It contained eight rows of seating of three each on the left and two on the right with additional seating in the forward area.
Turrell said no leaks had been detected in the hull and neither the pump nor the hull presented a source of flooding. He said there was no safety briefing conducted prior to the boat embarking on the tour and none was required by the state.
It was a clear, sunny day and the lake was calm when the boat departed from the Shoreline dock at 2:30 p.m. There was a normal amount of boat traffic for a Sunday afternoon. The captain said that he noted the boat was sluggish and slower to respond to the heavier load. Some 24 minutes after the departure, the captain was making a starboard turn when he says he saw a wave that was two to three feet in height. Some passengers say they saw a wave two or three inches in height while the operator of a vessel east of the Ethan Allen didn't see any waves. Turrell said they couldn't determine the source, height or number of waves. He said the Ethan Allen turned to starboard, a wave imparted, the passengers shifted to the portside and passengers were swept out of the windows.
Turrell made specific note that no drug or alcohol testing was administered to Paris after the accident, a decision made by Sheriff Larry Cleveland who said that he had Paris "blow in his face" and did not detect any odor of alcohol. Testing was not required.
Turrell says some witnesses relate seeing no wave while other reports range from seeing waves of two to three inches to two to three feet in height. The Mohican tour boat owned by the Lake George Steamboat Company had passed the Ethan Allen about 20 minutes before the accident and was two miles north of the accident scene when the Ethan Allen capsized, Turrell said. He said that personal watercraft or other boats could have created the waves.
He said that the average weight of the passengers about the Ethan Allen was 178 pounds and overall, the Ethan Allen was carrying four times the allowed passenger weight. He said that the boat had been improperly certificated after the canopies were installed, the canvass canopy in 1966 and the wooden canopy in 1989. The boat was originally built in 1964 without a canopy. After the canvas canopy was added, the stability was not reassessed and the Coast Guard was not required to do so. He said that when the wooden canopy was installed, the number of passengers should have been reduced to 14. Since the accident, the average weight criteria of New York State has been raised to 174 pounds and the Coast Guard has raised its average weight from 140 pounds to a recommended 185 pounds.
On the afternoon of Oct. 2, the New York State-certificated public vessel Ethan Allen, with a New York State-licensed operator and 47 passengers on board, departed the Shoreline Cruises marina at Lake George for a cruise of the lake. The vessel proceeded northbound along the western side of the lake at an estimated speed of 8 mph. As it neared Cramer Point, the operator began a turn to the right. At the same time, the Ethan Allen encountered a wave or waves generated by one or more vessels on its starboard side. Within a few seconds, the boat rolled to port and overturned. It began to sink several minutes later. Operators of recreational vessels nearby observed the accident, proceeded immediately to the site, and began rescuing survivors. The operator and 18 passengers survived without injury. Three passengers received serious injuries, six received minor injuries, and 20 received fatal injuries in the accident. The resulting damage to the vessel and its components was estimated at $21,000.
The NTSB's investigation of this accident identified the following major safety issues:
Stability standards and procedures for passenger vessels;
New York State's use of manufacturer's capacity plates to determine public vessel passenger loading; and
Regulation of New York State's public vessels.
Conclusions regarding the accident were made by the NTSB:
Weather conditions were not a factor in this accident.
The attempt of Ethan Allen operator Richard Paris, 74, operator to turn the vessel into the on-coming wake before the capsizing was a normal reaction to the circumstances, but not timely enough to be effective.
Operator fatigue was not a factor in this accident.
Because drug and alcohol testing of Paris, captain of the Ethan Allen, was not done in a timely manner by the Warren County Sheriff's Department and Sheriff Larry Cleveland, the toxicological analysis was inconclusive.
The boat's hull structure and steering and propulsion components were not factors in the accident.
At the time of the accident, the bilge might have contained, at most, an insignificant amount of water which would not have affected the boat's stability.
The addition, and subsequent modification, of a canopy changed the Ethan Allen's stability characteristics.
Although U.S. Coast Guard regulations and New York State's guidance to vessel owners did not contain clear requirements pertaining to testing after modifications, the Double Dolphin/Ethan Allen should have undergone a stability reassessment after each canopy installation and modification.
Because the Double Dolphin/Ethan Allen did not undergo stability assessments after the addition and modification of its canopies, it was certificated to carry too many passengers. The certificate of inspection permitted 48 passengers, but stability criteria should have limited the number to 14 passengers.
Although it was the Ethan Allen that was involved in this accident, the potential for capsizing was substantially the same for the de Champlain.
The combination of too many passengers, as permitted by the Ethan Allen's inappropriate certificate of inspection, and the use of an out-of-date average weight standard for passengers on public vessels resulted in the boat carrying a load that significantly reduced its stability, which made it more susceptible to capsizing on the day of the accident.
The Ethan Allen capsized as a result of insufficient stability, which made it unable to right itself from the combined forces of a passing wave or waves, a sharp turn, and the resulting involuntary shift of passengers to the port side of the vessel.
New York State's reliance on manufacturers' capacity plate data to determine maximum passenger limits on public vessels carrying more than six passengers for hire is an inappropriate use of the Coast Guard noncommercial boat standard.
New York State public vessel operators do not have a simple and ready means such as a mark on the hull to determine whether their vessels are overloaded.
For almost all of the passengers, survivability was not adversely affected by the presence of preexisting medical conditions.
The emergency response was timely and effective.
The post accident actions of New York State to improve the level of safety of public vessels were prompt and, if implemented, will address issues identified in the accident investigation.
At least nine wrongful death suits have been filed by families of the victims and survivors.
For a review of The North Country Gazette's extensive continuing coverage of the Ethan Allen boating tragedy and Cleveland's precarious political and professional future, visit the sitemap at www.northcountrygazette.org and enter a search for Ethan Allen, Lake George boating accident and/or Larry Cleveland. 7-25-06
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