FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 20, 1999 SB 99-02

NTSB TO HOLD PUBLIC HEARING IN CHARLESTON, SC
REGARDING SINKING OF SAILBOAT MORNING DEW

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The National Transportation Safety Board will conduct a public hearing in Charleston, South Carolina in February to discuss the circumstances surrounding the sinking of the pleasure craft Morning Dew and the response of the United States Coast Guard in the hours following the accident.

The hearing will convene at 9:00 a.m., Wednesday, February 3rd at the Charleston Hilton Hotel, 4770 Goer Drive, North Charleston, South Carolina. It is expected to last two days and NTSB Member George W. Black, Jr. will chair the hearing.

At approximately 2:15 a.m. on December 29, 1997, the recreational sail boat the Morning Dew, with four persons aboard, struck the north jetty at the entrance to the Charleston Harbor about one mile from shore. Before the boat sank the owner's youngest son transmitted a "mayday" which went unheard by the local Coast Guard. About four minutes later a second call was broadcast, which was also reported as unintelligible by the Coast Guard. About 6:10a.m. the same day the bosun aboard an inbound ship reported hearing cries for help from the water. The ship's pilot contacted his pilot boat and asked that it start a search. He also instructed the pilot dispatcher to contact the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard took no action. At 11:00a.m. that day the bodies of two boys were found, followed two hours later by the discovery of a third boy. The owner/operator was found three weeks later.

The issues to be discussed at this hearing are the adequacy of the Coast Guard communications system at Charleston to receive distress calls and to determine the location of vessels making the calls; the adequacy of the initial Search and Rescue response; coordination of local agencies for conducting Search and Rescue activities; and the Coast Guard's policy for release of information to other investigative agencies as well as interested parties, such as families of victims, while conducting an administrative investigation.

"While we are certainly grateful to the Coast Guard for all its important work," NTSB Member Black said, "its communications system and search and rescue procedures must be closely examined as a result of the events following the sinking of the Morning Dew. This hearing will allow us to explore the ways in which the Coast Guard can improve its operation, in Charleston and throughout the United States."

Member Black will chair the Board of Inquiry, composed of senior Safety Board staff. A technical panel of NTSB investigators will lead the questioning of witnesses, who will also be examined by representatives of the Coast Guard and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, the two parties to the Board's investigation.

Information from the hearing will be used by the Board to determine the Coast Guard's ability to respond to distress calls so that safety recommendations might be formulated to improve emergency response capabilities. A final Board report is expected later this year.

NTSB Media Contact: Matt Furman 202-314-6100