NTSB: Distractions Led To Deadly Crash

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Federal transportation officials investigating last summer's deadly duck boat crash in Philadelphia say cell phone distractions are causing too many accidents -- on the nation's roads, rails and waterways.

The National Transportation Safety Board was holding a public meeting Tuesday in Washington, D.C., on the July 7, 2010, crash between the tour boat and a huge barge that left two Hungarian students dead.

Chairwoman Deborah Hersman says safety officials have to change a mindset where vehicle operators are constantly talking, texting and browsing the Internet.

The NTSB found the mate piloting the barge was on his cell phone dealing with a family emergency at the same time the duck boat was stalled in the Delaware River.

The July 7 crash also sent 35 others aboard the duck boat into the busy shipping channel.

A federal criminal investigation and a civil suit against the city and others are still pending.

NTSB investigators identified the following safety issues during Tuesday's presentation:

• Vehicle maintenance, as the duck boat experienced a mechanical breakdown;
• The crews of both vessels did not perform an effective lookout in the minutes before the collision;
• And the crew members on duty aboard both vessels used cell phones for personal use in the minutes before the collision;
• Finally, the response to the emergency by Ride the Ducks International personnel.

The NTSB said "staff found no evidence of an onboard fire" and believes that, because no defects could be found in the engine cooling system, the white steam seen on that day resulted from a combination of conditions that included a missing search tank pressure cap. That allowed a production of steam at lower temperature and a loss of coolant by evaporation at the open search tank opening.

The day's warm temperature and the duck boat heading against river current with a nearly full passenger load also contributed, the NTSB said.

The duck boats returned to the water earlier this year with procedural changes and a new route.

"Staff believes that the steps taken by Ride the Ducks after the accident to improve its (duck boat) maintenance program will reduce the likelihood of a reoccurrence of a similar low-level human error, and that no safety recommendation from the board is needed in this area," the NTSB said during its presentation.

During a question-and-answer period Tuesday, NTSB Vice Chairman Robert L. Sumwalt echoed Hersman's earlier sentiments about distractions by handheld devices.

"It's becoming the new DUI," Sumwalt said. "This is going to continue to be a real problem in everything that we do. Even walking I see people walking across the street not paying attention to what they're doing because they're playing with their personal electronic device.

"And so this is going to reach epidemic proportions," Sumwalt continued. "We're going to have to make some social changes in society to change this behavior, just as we did drinking and driving and wearing seatbelts and other things. It takes a generation or two to change it, but change is needed."