NTSB Issues Cellphone Warning After Two Accidents Involving Coast Guard Craft
The National Transportation Safety Board Wednesday recommended that the Coast Guard issue a policy on cellphone use by members of the service while on duty. That came in response to two accidents between Coast Guard patrol boats and commercial craft. The NTSB issued a second recommendation to the maritime industry, asking it to also issue a notice on the danger of cellphone use while operating a boat.
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In the first incident, on Dec. 5 a shore-based Coast Guard response boat collided with the small tour boat Thriller 09 in the harbor of Charleston, S.C. Five passengers of the tour boat were injured and treated at area hospitals. Dec. 20, a second shore-based response boat collided with a 24-foot recreational vessel carrying 13 passengers in the harbor of San Diego. A child died in the accident and four passengers were seriously injured.
"The use of wireless communications devices while operating vehicles in any mode of transportation poses an unacceptable distraction,” said NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman. “State governments and federal regulators have been acting to combat these safety hazards and we urge the Coast Guard to do the same. Accidents caused by distractions from wireless devices must cease. Lives are being unnecessarily put at risk and lost."
The NTSB hasn’t yet determined the probable causes of the accidents involving the Coast Guard response craft, but has confirmed that crew were using wireless devices while piloting the vessels at the time of both accidents, the board said.