Sunken "Duck" Boat Retrieved from Delaware River
by KYW's John McDevitt
A crane today lifted a sunken tourist boat from 40-50 feet of water in the Delaware River, two days after the amphibious craft went down after being rammed by a passing barge.
The boat appeared to be upright and intact as it hung in the crane sling, still halfway submerged.
Thirty-five of 37 people aboard were rescued, but two Hungarian tourists disappeared as the boat quickly sank. The body of one of those two victims was retrieved early this morning (see related story).
The 25-ton crane began lifting the submerged duck boat to the surface around 1:30pm.
The boat's canopy appeared damaged as it was lifted from the water about 100 yards from shore by a crane using two heavy yellow straps. Police and Coast Guard vessels surrounded the boat as it emerged from the water.
On Thursday, National Transportation Safety Board investigators dug into their efforts to reconstruct what went wrong. They expected to spend more than a week working in Philadelphia before heading back to Washington, DC to continue their investigation.
Board member Robert Sumwalt said the agency would look into the condition of the vessels and whether proper protocols were in place and were followed. The NTSB planned to interview those aboard the boats, listen to recordings of radio transmissions, and study videos from cameras posted nearby by the City of Philadelphia and at least two television stations.
"Ride the Ducks" president Chris Herschend said Friday that the duck boat captain, Gary Fox, told him that he put out the distress call on marine channel 13, which is monitored by boaters.
The Coast Guard has said it received a transmission over an emergency channel around the time of the collision, but no voices or other recognizable sounds could be discerned.
Sumwalt said the experience and condition of the two-member crew of the duck boat and the five-member crew of the tug would be checked out. He said tests showed none had been drinking. Drug test results were expected in about a week.
Inspection records for the sunken duck boat have been turned over to the NTSB.
"Ride the Ducks" has been in Philadelphia since 2003. Passengers are driven on a tour of the Old City neighborhood near Independence Hall before taking a ride into the Delaware River from a ramp under the Ben Franklin Bridge.
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Stay tuned to KYW Newsradio 1060 for continuing updates.
(Photo by KYW's John McDevitt)
