Monday, Mar 27, 2006
Human error questions in ferry sinking go unanswered
The vessel's hull was ripped open from the bow to the stern when it hit rock at eighteen knots.
(CBC) - The Transportation Safety Board has ruled out mechanical failure as the cause of the sinking of a B.C. ferry and has declined to comment on whether human error is to blame.
The Queen of the North sank Wednesday night after running aground south of Prince Rupert.
The vessel was a kilometre off course at the time of the accident, but investigators are refusing to publicly discuss whether human error may have played a role.
"That would be just pure speculation," said Capt. Raymond Mathew of the Transporation Safety Board told reporters on Saturday.
Mathew says his team of eight investigators has so far interviewed 20 crew members from the ill-fated Queen of the North.
He said the mechanical and steering systems on the doomed ferry appeared to be in good working condition when the ferry ran aground on a rock at full speed, tearing a hole in the bottom of the ship.
"To date there are no indications of any kind of mechanical failure with the main engine or the steering gear system. However the vessel did experience strong winds and there was a report of heavy squalls in the area."
Mathew said critical information may come from an electronic chart system still on the bridge of the ferry.
That equipment would have recorded course changes made as the vessel navigated the narrow channels of the inside passage. Investigators also revealed the first information about the damage sustained by the ferry.
"Information that we have obtained indicates that the watertight integrity of the hull was breached along its starboard side starting from the bow and extending aft all the way back to the stern," Mathew said.
On Sunday, investigators hope to gather more information from the vessel itself. Weather permitting, a minature submarine will provide the first close look at the 37-year-old ferry, which is resting 350 metres below the surface in Wright Channel.
Shirley Rosette and Gerald Foisey, a couple from 100 Mile House in the B.C. interior, are feared to have died in the accident.
Ninety-nine passengers and crew were rescued from the vessel after it struck a rock off Gil Island near the First Nations village of Hartley Bay.
Human error questions in ferry sinking go unanswered
The vessel's hull was ripped open from the bow to the stern when it hit rock at eighteen knots.
(CBC) - The Transportation Safety Board has ruled out mechanical failure as the cause of the sinking of a B.C. ferry and has declined to comment on whether human error is to blame.
The Queen of the North sank Wednesday night after running aground south of Prince Rupert.
The vessel was a kilometre off course at the time of the accident, but investigators are refusing to publicly discuss whether human error may have played a role.
"That would be just pure speculation," said Capt. Raymond Mathew of the Transporation Safety Board told reporters on Saturday.
Mathew says his team of eight investigators has so far interviewed 20 crew members from the ill-fated Queen of the North.
He said the mechanical and steering systems on the doomed ferry appeared to be in good working condition when the ferry ran aground on a rock at full speed, tearing a hole in the bottom of the ship.
"To date there are no indications of any kind of mechanical failure with the main engine or the steering gear system. However the vessel did experience strong winds and there was a report of heavy squalls in the area."
Mathew said critical information may come from an electronic chart system still on the bridge of the ferry.
That equipment would have recorded course changes made as the vessel navigated the narrow channels of the inside passage. Investigators also revealed the first information about the damage sustained by the ferry.
"Information that we have obtained indicates that the watertight integrity of the hull was breached along its starboard side starting from the bow and extending aft all the way back to the stern," Mathew said.
On Sunday, investigators hope to gather more information from the vessel itself. Weather permitting, a minature submarine will provide the first close look at the 37-year-old ferry, which is resting 350 metres below the surface in Wright Channel.
Shirley Rosette and Gerald Foisey, a couple from 100 Mile House in the B.C. interior, are feared to have died in the accident.
Ninety-nine passengers and crew were rescued from the vessel after it struck a rock off Gil Island near the First Nations village of Hartley Bay.
