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The water taxi that overturned in Baltimore's Inner Harbor on March 6, 2004 - killing five passengers - was too unstable and heavy to withstand a hit by what its captain called a "spiral of wind" and a "wall of water," federal investigators said in a report released yesterday.
The National Transportation Safety Board's "engineering and stability report" said a simulation of the winds and waves that caught the pontoon boat Lady D between Fort McHenry and Fells Point showed the vessel capsizing within a minute in each of the 20 times the test was repeated.
The report on the water taxi's stability was part of a release of documents and pictures yesterday that included transcripts of often-dramatic testimony by the Lady D's captain, mate and passengers. Among other things, the mate said that Seaport Taxi, the vessel's owner, nearly had a similar accident two years previously.
A spokeswoman for the NTSB would not comment on the testimony or the panel's report. The agency has yet to complete its investigation or reach conclusions about who, if anyone, is to blame. The spokeswoman, Lauren Peduzzi, said the final report will probably not be released until spring 2006 - more than six months later than previously expected.
Still, the factual findings of the panel that examined the stability of the vessel indicate that the U.S. Coast Guard could face severe criticism of its standards and vessel certification procedures.
The report pointed to continuing disagreements between the NTSB and the Coast Guard over the urgency of revising standards and procedures for ensuring that commercial boats aren't carrying too much weight.
Copies of the depositions released yesterday also show divergences in the accounts of the captain and the mate of the water taxi.
Francis O. "Frank" Deppner, the captain, told investigators on the day after the accident that shortly after leaving the Fort McHenry pier, just before 4 p.m., the boat was hit by winds whose strength he estimated at 70 knots - near the high end of the range suggested by the U.S. Weather Service.
According to Deppner, he received a warning from a senior captain about severe weather headed his way just after casting off from the pier. He said that rather than trying to make it to Fells Point, he attempted to reach a closer haven near the Bay Cafe in Canton.
But the sudden wind was much too powerful, he told investigators.
"I still tried to turn into the wind, but there was no turning, the boat just seemed to not do anything. And for a while, it almost seemed like the wind was beginning to turn the boat almost in a circle," Deppner, then 74, said, according to the transcript.
"I am not sure if the boat went all the way around once or not. I suspect maybe it did. And then the wall of water seemed to still be there and the boat just tipped to the side."
Deppner, mate Michael Homan and 23 passengers ended up in the frigid waters of the Inner Harbor - some trapped under the boat. Five would die - including a 6-year-old boy and a 26-year-old couple planning to be married.
Homan gave two statements to investigators - one the same day as Deppner and another in October 2004.
In the October statement, Homan said he had learned in the intervening months about an incident before he was hired in which a similar Seaport Taxi vessel, called the Revenge, had been "influenced by the wind" and blown against the dock at the Baltimore Maritime Center near the site of the Lady D accident.
His report of the earlier accident was confirmed in another deposition given by Andrew Murray, director of the Natural Historic Seaport of Baltimore.
Homan's account of the accident differed from Deppner's in key respects.
Where Deppner said he was trying to reach the Canton marine center, Homan told investigators it appeared to him that the captain was attempting to return to Fort McHenry.
Deppner and Homan also differed in their recollections of the passengers' actions in the moments just before the capsizing.
The National Transportation Safety Board's "engineering and stability report" said a simulation of the winds and waves that caught the pontoon boat Lady D between Fort McHenry and Fells Point showed the vessel capsizing within a minute in each of the 20 times the test was repeated.
A spokeswoman for the NTSB would not comment on the testimony or the panel's report. The agency has yet to complete its investigation or reach conclusions about who, if anyone, is to blame. The spokeswoman, Lauren Peduzzi, said the final report will probably not be released until spring 2006 - more than six months later than previously expected.
Still, the factual findings of the panel that examined the stability of the vessel indicate that the U.S. Coast Guard could face severe criticism of its standards and vessel certification procedures.
The report pointed to continuing disagreements between the NTSB and the Coast Guard over the urgency of revising standards and procedures for ensuring that commercial boats aren't carrying too much weight.
Copies of the depositions released yesterday also show divergences in the accounts of the captain and the mate of the water taxi.
Francis O. "Frank" Deppner, the captain, told investigators on the day after the accident that shortly after leaving the Fort McHenry pier, just before 4 p.m., the boat was hit by winds whose strength he estimated at 70 knots - near the high end of the range suggested by the U.S. Weather Service.
According to Deppner, he received a warning from a senior captain about severe weather headed his way just after casting off from the pier. He said that rather than trying to make it to Fells Point, he attempted to reach a closer haven near the Bay Cafe in Canton.
But the sudden wind was much too powerful, he told investigators.
"I still tried to turn into the wind, but there was no turning, the boat just seemed to not do anything. And for a while, it almost seemed like the wind was beginning to turn the boat almost in a circle," Deppner, then 74, said, according to the transcript.
"I am not sure if the boat went all the way around once or not. I suspect maybe it did. And then the wall of water seemed to still be there and the boat just tipped to the side."
Deppner, mate Michael Homan and 23 passengers ended up in the frigid waters of the Inner Harbor - some trapped under the boat. Five would die - including a 6-year-old boy and a 26-year-old couple planning to be married.
Homan gave two statements to investigators - one the same day as Deppner and another in October 2004.
In the October statement, Homan said he had learned in the intervening months about an incident before he was hired in which a similar Seaport Taxi vessel, called the Revenge, had been "influenced by the wind" and blown against the dock at the Baltimore Maritime Center near the site of the Lady D accident.
His report of the earlier accident was confirmed in another deposition given by Andrew Murray, director of the Natural Historic Seaport of Baltimore.
Homan's account of the accident differed from Deppner's in key respects.
Where Deppner said he was trying to reach the Canton marine center, Homan told investigators it appeared to him that the captain was attempting to return to Fort McHenry.
Deppner and Homan also differed in their recollections of the passengers' actions in the moments just before the capsizing.
