July 10, 2010
By JIM WALSH
Courier-Post Staff
A duck boat captain has said he made radio distress calls in a failed effort to avoid a deadly collision with a barge in the Delaware River, a federal investigator said Friday.
The captain asserted that he asked a tugboat pushing the barge to change course, said Robert Sumwalt, a representative of the National Transportation Safety Board. But, Sumwalt said, "He did not report to us any acknowledgement (from the tugboat's crew)."
The captain, whose name was not released, also said he tried to sound an air horn before the crash that sunk his boat, but the device did not work, Sumwalt added at a news conference.
The collision, which killed two young passengers on the Ride the Ducks tour boat, occurred around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday after the captain turned off his craft's engine midstream due to an apparent mechanical problem, Sumwalt said.
The bodies of the fatalities -- 16-year-old Dora Schwendtner and 20-year-old Szablcs Prem, both of Hungary -- were recovered at separate times Friday. The city will hold a memorial service for them at 11:30 a.m. today at the Independence Seaport Museum.
Confirmation of Prem's identity was pending Friday night.
Also Friday, a crane operated by Camden-based Weeks Marine lifted the tour boat from the river floor about 1:30 p.m. The damaged craft was loaded onto a barge shortly before 3 p.m., then was taken to a Coast Guard facility.
NTSB investigators on Friday interviewed 16 of the boat's 35 passengers, as well as the captain and his single crew member, Sumwalt said.
"They told amazing stories of heroism," said Sumwalt. "One young man said he gave his life jacket to another person and then he swam ashore."
Sumwalt said the captain and his deckhand stopped the vessel, which had been southbound, as it was making a U-turn that carried it toward the center of the river, he said. They were concerned about smoke and an acrid smell coming from the boat's engine.
"The captain said he saw no flames, but because of the smoke, he shut down the engine," Sumwalt said. Investigators on Friday afternoon found the vessel's radiator cap was not in place, but saw no signs of smoke or fire damage, Sumwalt said.
People on the boat have said the accident occurred five to 10 minutes after the duck boat stopped, Sumwalt said. During that period, the captain declined an offer of help from a passing duck boat, which had a full load of passengers, and prepared to wait for an empty tour boat to be sent to the scene, Sumwalt said.
The captain told investigators he made his first distress call when the northbound barge was around 400 yards from the tour boat. He and the crewmate said they instructed passengers to don life vests as the 250-foot barge approached their 35-foot boat.
At a news conference on Thursday, Sumwalt said the tour boat made no distress calls on a channel monitored by the Coast Guard. But the captain said he believes his calls were made on a different channel used for ship-to-ship communication.
Investigators, who questioned the captain for almost four hours Friday, are to interview the tugboat's crew today. "We will ask them specifically, "Did you hear that transmission?' " Sumwalt said.
He identified the captain only as a 58-year-old man and three-year employee at Ride the Ducks. He said the captain has a required license from the Coast Guard and a commercial driver's license.
The captain said he had inspected the boat on Wednesday morning, and had found no problems. "He said the vessel was in top-notch condition with no irregularities," Sumwalt said. The air horn also worked during that inspection, the captain told investigators.
Sumwalt also said the captain drove the amphibious boat into the river, then turned the controls over to the 18-year-old deckmate.
Sumwalt said a cursory investigation of the tour boat, which was damaged on its left side near the stern, showed the radio microphone was not in its holder and that the boat's gear shift was in neutral.
Investigators also found the radiator cap was not in place, but they saw no smoke or fire damage.
At the same time, Sumwalt noted at a press conference Friday night, "We are just at the very beginning of this investigation."
Earlier Friday, a fisherman found Schwendnter's remains at 4:45 a.m. about two miles from the accident site.
Prem's body was spotted about 9:30 a.m. when it floated face-down under Weeks Marine's salvage barge. A crowd of onlookers saw the body, which had no life preserver.
"At first it looked like a big log," said Stephen Lefever, an amateur photographer from Cherry Hill. "As it got closer and I looked through my zoom, it was definitely a body.
"It was bizarre. The river was packed with Coast Guard and police boats and nobody retrieved (the body) before it disappeared under the barge. They were too busy setting up for the day to pay attention," said Lefever.
At about 3 p.m. -- after Weeks Marine's 25-ton crane had raised the duck boat -- Prem's body surfaced and was quickly retrieved by police and the Coast Guard.
Schwendtner and Prem were part of a large group of Hungarian tourists, many of them teenagers, who rode Duck 34 through Philadelphia's historic district, happily blowing the quacking whistles given to all passengers.
The group was near the end of its 70-minute tour when the accident occurred.
The owner of Ride the Ducks -- Herschend Family Entertainment Co. of Norcross, Ga. -- has suspended tour-boat operations so it can review training and maintenance procedures.
The firm, with a 90-vessel fleet at five sites, also operates the Adventure Aquarium in Camden.
Hundreds of spectators lined the two-tiered plaza at Penn's Landing to watch Friday's events.
Two child-care workers from the nearby Old City neighborhood brought teddy bears and a sign to mark the deaths.
"Everybody feels so bad," said Jasmine Harris, 19, of Philadelphia. "The ducks ride by our day care all the time quacking and having fun. We even took the ride with some our kids last year.
"Those people were too young and too far from their home to die."
Eileen Stilwell contributed to this report.