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 TheEthan Allen is raised to the surface of Lake George the day after it capsized | |
 | |
| Date | October 2, 2005 |
|---|---|
| Time | 2:55 p.m. local time |
| Location | Lake George inupstate New York |
| Coordinates | 43°27′25″N73°41′24″W / 43.456953°N 73.689938°W /43.456953; -73.689938 |
| Cause | Capsizing & Over-crowding |
| Deaths | 20 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 9 |
TheEthan Allen was a 40-foot (12 m), glass-enclosedtour boat[1] operated by Shoreline Cruises onLake George inupstate New York. On October 2, 2005, at 2:55 p.m. local time, with 47 passengers—mostly seniors—aboard, theEthan Allencapsized and sank just south of Cramer Point in theTown of Lake George. Twenty passengers died, causing government regulators to consider new laws on passenger boat capacity.
There was a rumor that the glass windows on the boat had acted like a box, trapping the passengers inside. However, it was later established by theNational Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) that there were no glass windows; they were made ofacrylic glass and fitted in a swing-up frame. The frame attached to the overhead canopy. At the time of the sinking, they were swung up and out of the way. They remained in that position even with the boat sinking and were still up when the boat was recovered. There were 47 passengers on the boat on the day of the incident.[1]
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The boat was carrying a tourist group, the Trenton Travelers, based out ofTrenton, Michigan. The group included senior citizens fromMichigan andOhio. They were on an hour-long fallfoliage tour on the lake. When the boat capsized it sent about 47 passengers and crew, including the captain into the water.[2] The boat sank in water that was 59 feet (18 m) deep, and witnesses told officials that passengers had not been wearing life preservers. There were multiple attempts to save individuals on the boat with people passing on boats, or who had swum from shore tossing them life preservers or pulling them out of the water.[1]
Injured passengers and crew were sent toGlens Falls Hospital by ambulances fromLake George and the nearby towns ofHague,Warrensburg, andMoreau. North Warren Emergency Medical Service (EMS), which incorporates the towns ofHoricon andChester, assisted in the effort. The Water Rescue Teams, a part of the HoriconVolunteer Fire Department (VFD), North QueensburyVolunteer Fire Company, and Lake George VFD were also called to the scene. Officials ofWarren County set up a makeshift morgue on the lawn by the lake, while locals helped survivors.[citation needed]
Three passengers were treated for major injuries at local hospitals and six passengers were treated for minor injuries.[2] The 20 deceased victims are believed to have died fromdrowning, nothypothermia, as the water in the lake was 68 °F (20 °C).[citation needed]
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Speculation about the cause of the capsizing originally centered on the sizable wake of a much larger cruise ship, theLake George Steamboat Company'sMohican, which traverses Lake George daily. However, no evidence emerged to support this theory. Tourists at a nearby camp reported that theMohican did not pass the area of the lake where theEthan Allen sank until 20 minutes later.[citation needed]
There were multiple reports by people near and around the lake of several other boats being in the vicinity. Reports from some people at local campsites claim that a speed boat had passed by, while others claim the lake was calm. Warren County Police did not confirm whether there were other boats around theEthan Allen. The weather was also not a factor in this sinking, as the skies were clear and the wind was calm.[citation needed]
On October 3, theEthan Allen was raised by investigators and taken to theWarren County Airport. The following week, the “Ethan Allen” sister boatde Champlain was utilized on Lake George for a series of tests to determine what caused it to capsize. According toWRGB, theMohican was also used during tests on three consecutive days. On October 15 it was confirmed that theEthan Allen capsizing was due to the sharp turn into the wake of the passing boat, the shift of the passengers to the port side, and the overloading of the vessel. It is important to note that theNational Transportation Safety Board determined the high degree turn to starboard to meet the wave head on was a normal reaction to the circumstances, however it was not timely enough to prevent the vessel from immediately listing to port right after contact. On November 4, the alcohol results from thetoxicology center showed that the captain of theEthan Allen did not drink alcohol on the day of the sinking.[citation needed]
On February 3, 2006, the official police report for theEthan Allen sinking was released after a three-month delay. The report is 530 pages in three volumes, with all the information about theEthan Allen. There has been much discussion over whether or not theMohican did or did not pass theEthan Allen, causing it to capsize. People around and on the lake at the time claim theMohican had passed 20 minutes after theEthan Allen had capsized. The pilot of theEthan Allen, Richard Paris, stated:
I started to swing the bow of the boat to the right and immediately encountered stray waves from the wake of theMohican that was going northbound. The entire boat then tipped to the left and just kept right on going.[citation needed]
Regardless of the actions or locations of other craft, the report concluded that theEthan Allen incident was not a crime.[citation needed]
On July 25, 2006, the final report for theEthan Allen boating sinking was released by TheNational Transportation Safety Board.[3] It established thatEthan Allen had capsized as a result of insufficient stability. TheUS Coast Guard was responsible for the original certification of the vessel, then called theDouble Dolphin. She was originally certificated by the USCG for 48 passengers and two crew.[citation needed]
When the owner of theDouble Dolphin fitted the boat with an elaborate pipe structure and canvas top, thecenter of gravity was raised and, more importantly, the projected side area vastly increased. No retesting to either Simplified Stability Proof Test (SST) nor to Subchapter S is recorded to have occurred under Coast Guard oversight after those modifications were carried out.[citation needed]
In the mid-1970s the boat along with two other sister vessels was sold to Shoreline Cruises in Lake George. The US Coast Guard certificates were at that point still current and valid. New York State vessel regulators were given those certificates and, based on the US Coast Guard officially stating (incorrectly) that the boat had sufficient reserve stability to safely carry 48 passengers and 2 crew, New York regulators then gave the boat the same rating. In 1989, when the owner had a hard (wood and fiberglass) top installed to replace the pipe structure canopy, it was determined that its lower height more than compensated for its slightly greater weight. The state of New York did not have any method in place for assessing vessel stability and the vessel received no further testing or oversight regarding stability.[citation needed]
The NTSB carried out stability tests of a sister ship, to both the SST and subchapter S, and discovered that there was not anywhere near a 47-person capacity. In fact, 14 persons at the official 140 pounds (64 kg) weight per person were as much as theEthan Allen could have been certificated.[citation needed]
According to the NTSB, the capsizing occurred due to a series of events. The total weight of the 47 passengers aboard was far in excess of the safe passenger weight under prevailing U.S. laws. The pilot made a hard turn to the right at speed. The seating arrangement put three people on theport side versus two on thestarboard side—giving a permanent two-degree list (tilt) to port—and the bench seats had no way of stopping involuntary sliding, so thecentrifugal force of the hard turn caused involuntary movement of the passengers to port. That movement increased the list to port and the increased list caused more sliding. Within seconds, thecenter of gravity was no longer over thehull and the boatcapsized.[citation needed]
On February 5, 2007, agrand jury indicted Richard Paris, the boat's captain, and Shoreline Cruises onmisdemeanor charges ofcriminal negligence. Paris faced a maximum $250 fine and/or 15 days in jail if found guilty. The grand jury, which met for two months, also issued a report proposing new laws to prevent a repeat of the disaster. This was the third report about thecapsizing.[4] In March 2007, Paris pleaded guilty and received a fine of $250 and 200 hours of community service.[5]
By Friday, October 7, two of the survivors who returned to Michigan filed lawsuits fordamages of $70,000 each.
Alawsuit was brought by the victims and their families in theUnited States District Court for theNorthern District of New York against Shoreline Cruises; its affiliate Quirks Marine Rentals; boat captain Richard Paris; Scarano Boat Building Inc., which modified theEthan Allen; Shoreline Travel & Tours Inc., a Canadian firm that organized theleaf-peeping tour; and theLake George Steamboat Company, operator of theMohican. On June 25, 2008, it was announced that Shoreline Cruises, Quirks, and Paris settled with theplaintiffs for undisclosed terms. In September 2008, a trial date for April 13, 2010, for the remaining defendants was announced.[6][7] The portion of the suit against Scarano was dismissed because of a lack of evidence.[8]
It came to light that Shoreline Cruises had been sold a fraudulentliability insurance policy. Shoreline paidpremiums for a $2 million policy for about two years before theEthan Allencapsized. Two weeks after the incident, they were told the policy did not exist.[9]
The last lawsuit, in which the state of New York was named as a defendant because state boat inspectors were alleged to have been negligent, was dismissed by the state's highest court in November 2012. TheCourt of Appeals found the state had "governmental immunity."[10]
On February 1, 2006, a service to community ceremony was held at theGlens Falls Civic Center to recognize the people, including paid professionals, volunteers, and citizens, who helped during the sinking. The names of the 20 people who died that day were read. An estimated 600 people attended the ceremony.Lake George Village Mayor Robert M. Blais said that plans were in the works for a memorial to recognize the victims and the survivors sometime around the one-year anniversary of the sinking, October 2, 2006. The monument is in place on the shore near Lower Amherst Street.
TheEthan Allen is clearly identified in the 2019Steven Soderbergh film,The Laundromat, as the boat which kills Joe Martin (James Cromwell) which then becomes the catalyst for the uncovering of thePanama Papers by his widow, Ellen Martin (Meryl Streep).
