Still to be determined is why the pleas went unheard, at least by the tugboat. Officials said Friday night that its crew would be interviewed Saturday. The crew of the Ride the Ducks vehicle, according to the NTSB account, turned off the engine after seeing and smelling smoke.
That decision looms as important because the 30-foot duck in effect stopped in the shipping channel, in the direct path of the 250-foot city-owned barge. In interviews conducted by the NTSB, the crew reported seeing the barge when it was about 400 yards away.
The two crew members told investigators that they instructed passengers to don life vests, according to the NTSB. None of the 16 passengers interviewed said he or she was told to jump into the water, as some survivors said in their initial accounts to reporters.
The NTSB said Gary Fox, the "master" - or captain - of the duck, told NTSB investigators that he conducted a 20-minute inspection of the vehicle when he started work Wednesday.
"He said the vessel was in top-notch condition with no irregularities," said NTSB member Robert Sumwalt. Fox, 58, was interviewed for three hours and 45 minutes.
Fox said that he worked on Sunday, had Monday off, then worked Tuesday and Wednesday. The accident occurred during his third tour on Wednesday.
On that tour, Fox picked up deckhand Kyle Burkhardt, 18, at the duck ramp at the end of Race Street. They entered the water and noted no traffic of concern, Sumwalt said.
Fox then turned the helm of the duck over to Burkhardt, who is in his second year with Ride the Ducks, while maintaining supervision. Sumwalt said the NTSB would find out if that was standard procedure.
