Post by ferryfast admin on Mar 9, 2006 1:32:37 GMT -5
Report: Rules for water taxi outdated
Old weight standards played part in fatal capsizing, officials say
BY CALVIN R. TRICE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
www.timesdispatch.com/
Wednesday, March 8, 2006
Decades-old standards that underestimated the weight of average Americans endangered the water taxi that capsized during a storm in the Baltimore Harbor two years ago, federal officials said yesterday.
Five people died in the accident, including three Virginians.
The National Transportation Safety Board said safety standards for keeping the small craft upright on water mistakenly applied a 1940s-era estimate for the average weight of a passenger. For that reason, the Lady D's maximum capacity of 25 people was too high and the boat was 700 pounds too heavy to be effectively maneuvered in high winds, board members said in releasing a summary of the final report of the accident investigation.
A 6-year-old Harrisonburg boy, Daniel Bentrem, was killed and his sister, Sarah, was seriously injured in the accident. The children were on vacation with their parents and another sister at the time. Their father, Dr. George Bentrem, said 10-year-old Sarah survived in a state that requires 24-hour care. She opens her eyes and can follow people and objects but is otherwise unresponsive, he said yesterday.
Two Northern Virginia residents also died. Andrew Roccella, 26, of Vienna, and his fiancée, Corinne Schillings, 26, were on the water taxi with their parents, who survived.
To George Bentrem, the NTSB report is just a set of eyewitness testimony and technical data.
"Nothing can change what happened," he said. "We just put our faith in God every day to just help us do the things we need to do."
The family plans no legal action. They take care of Sarah with some professional help, and he and his wife tag-team attending soccer games with their 9-year-old middle daughter, Katy, Bentrem said.
"We're certainly praying for Sarah and doing the best we can to take care of her," he said.
The National Transportation Safety Board's five-hour meeting in Washington was broadcast live on its Web site yesterday. Officials released a summary of the final report of the accident investigation after the meeting ended at about 2:30 p.m.
On the afternoon of March 6, 2004, the Lady D pontoon water taxi left for a recreational trip from Fort McHenry to Fells Point, Md. The vessel carried its given maximum capacity of 25 people, including two crew members and 23 passengers.
The taxi encountered a sudden, vicious storm with heavy rains and high winds that rolled, then flipped the pontoon as the pilot tried to turn back to the dock.
The maximum load given for the Lady D assumed an average passenger weight of 140 pounds. The vessel should have used a more up-to-date Federal Aviation Administration standard that assumes an average of 174 pounds per passenger, board members said. The average passenger weight on the Lady D during the accident was about 168 pounds.
The U.S. Coast Guard, which oversees safety standards for the taxi, used the wrong stability tests to judge how well the taxi could withstand such situations, the board said.
And the National Weather Service could have issued a warning of the fast-developing thunderstorm before the ship left dock. The weather service has since corrected that hole in its service, the report said.
Contact staff writer Calvin R. Trice at ctrice@timesdispatch.com or (540) 574-9977.
Old weight standards played part in fatal capsizing, officials say
BY CALVIN R. TRICE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
www.timesdispatch.com/
Wednesday, March 8, 2006
Decades-old standards that underestimated the weight of average Americans endangered the water taxi that capsized during a storm in the Baltimore Harbor two years ago, federal officials said yesterday.
Five people died in the accident, including three Virginians.
The National Transportation Safety Board said safety standards for keeping the small craft upright on water mistakenly applied a 1940s-era estimate for the average weight of a passenger. For that reason, the Lady D's maximum capacity of 25 people was too high and the boat was 700 pounds too heavy to be effectively maneuvered in high winds, board members said in releasing a summary of the final report of the accident investigation.
A 6-year-old Harrisonburg boy, Daniel Bentrem, was killed and his sister, Sarah, was seriously injured in the accident. The children were on vacation with their parents and another sister at the time. Their father, Dr. George Bentrem, said 10-year-old Sarah survived in a state that requires 24-hour care. She opens her eyes and can follow people and objects but is otherwise unresponsive, he said yesterday.
Two Northern Virginia residents also died. Andrew Roccella, 26, of Vienna, and his fiancée, Corinne Schillings, 26, were on the water taxi with their parents, who survived.
To George Bentrem, the NTSB report is just a set of eyewitness testimony and technical data.
"Nothing can change what happened," he said. "We just put our faith in God every day to just help us do the things we need to do."
The family plans no legal action. They take care of Sarah with some professional help, and he and his wife tag-team attending soccer games with their 9-year-old middle daughter, Katy, Bentrem said.
"We're certainly praying for Sarah and doing the best we can to take care of her," he said.
The National Transportation Safety Board's five-hour meeting in Washington was broadcast live on its Web site yesterday. Officials released a summary of the final report of the accident investigation after the meeting ended at about 2:30 p.m.
On the afternoon of March 6, 2004, the Lady D pontoon water taxi left for a recreational trip from Fort McHenry to Fells Point, Md. The vessel carried its given maximum capacity of 25 people, including two crew members and 23 passengers.
The taxi encountered a sudden, vicious storm with heavy rains and high winds that rolled, then flipped the pontoon as the pilot tried to turn back to the dock.
The maximum load given for the Lady D assumed an average passenger weight of 140 pounds. The vessel should have used a more up-to-date Federal Aviation Administration standard that assumes an average of 174 pounds per passenger, board members said. The average passenger weight on the Lady D during the accident was about 168 pounds.
The U.S. Coast Guard, which oversees safety standards for the taxi, used the wrong stability tests to judge how well the taxi could withstand such situations, the board said.
And the National Weather Service could have issued a warning of the fast-developing thunderstorm before the ship left dock. The weather service has since corrected that hole in its service, the report said.
Contact staff writer Calvin R. Trice at ctrice@timesdispatch.com or (540) 574-9977.