The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday will go over the final report of their investigation into last summer's deadly Duck boat accident on the Delaware River.
Findings, along with a probable cause and safety recommendations will be discussed and then voted on during the public meeting. The NTSB will livestream the event on their website. It starts at 9:30 a.m.
Attorneys for the two victims who died in the Duck boat collision will go public with their comments on the NTSB final report at 1:30 p.m. They've repeatedly referred to the Duck boats a "floating death cages" because of the canopies on the boats.
"The problem with the canopies is that if you put your life jacket on inside the Duck boat, you can't get out the window," said Robert Mongeluzzi, one of the attorneys.
Hungarian students Dora Schwendtner, 16, and Szabolcs Prem, 20, died when the disabled tourist boat was hit by a barge.
"In 2002, the NTSB recommended that the canopies of duck boats be removed because they entrap and drown their passengers. Ride the Ducks failed to heed their recommendations in 2002 and still has not heeded their recommendations," Mongeluzzi said when Ride the Ducks went back on the water this spring.
"I suspect that ultimately, they [the NTSB] will find a combination of failures of the duck boat crew and the K-Sea crew. Both were distracted by cell phones," said Mongeluzzi.
The government's preliminary report found that the operator of the tugboat that was pushing the barge down the river was on his cell phone, consumed by a family emergency, when the collision happened. A crewmember on the duck boat that afternoon was texting his girlfriend.
The 4,400-page preliminary report also found that the barge's mate did not heed the crew leader's advice to assign a lookout atop the barge, so that someone could continually monitor down to the river below.
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When the barge hit the duck boat, it was anchored and waiting for help after reports that a fire on board had shut the boat down.
"And one of the most significant factual findings is that there was no fire on the duck boat. The mechanic, who was making his first inspection ever, left the radiator cap off and essentially, the engine overheated," Mongeluzzi said.
The NTSB's preliminary report presented the factual findings. Tuesday's final report will include an analysis of those findings.
