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Duck Boat Crash, Duck Boat Trial

Attorney: Duck Boat Crash Victims’ Lives Worth More Than Boats; Liability Cap Should Be Lifted

May 7, 2012 5:37 AM

(A barge pushed by a tug boat bears down on a disabled duck boat in the Delaware River just before the fatal collision in July 2010. NTSB photo)

Fatal Duck Boat Crash Civil Trial Begins In Philadelphia

May 6, 2012 11:59 PM

civil lawsuit, Delaware River, Dora Schwendtner, drowning, Duck Boat Crash, K-Sea Transportation, Limitation of Liability Act, Matthew Devlin, NTSB, Peter Ronai, Philadelphia, Ride The Ducks, Robert Mongeluzzi, Szabolcs Prem, Wrongful Death

PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) - A trial is getting under way in federal court to determine the dollar amount two vessel operators may have to pay following a collision of a tugboat-guided barge and a sightseeing boat two years ago in Philadelphia that left two Hungarian students dead.

Szabolcs Prem, 20, and Dora Schwendtner, 16, whose group was visiting the US through a church exchange program, drowned when their amphibious tour boat capsized and sank after being struck by an empty sludge barge in the Delaware River on July 7, 2010.

“We don’t really have any more holidays. We don’t have any Christmas. We don’t have anything anymore,” said Szabolcs Prem’s mother, Maria, through a translator.

The families have filed wrongful death lawsuits against K-Sea Transportation of East Brunswick, NJ, which operated the tugboat guiding the barge upriver; Ride the Ducks of Norcross, Ga., which operated the tour boat; the City of Philadelphia, which owned the barge; and others.

Before the wrongful death lawsuit may proceed, however, a judge must decide whether a limit should be set on the financial liability of the two boat owners.

K-Sea and Ride the Ducks, citing an 1851 maritime law, want the judge to cap their financial liability based on the value of their own vessels involved in the crash: $1.65 million for the tug and $150,000 for the duck boat, said Robert Mongeluzzi, an attorney representing the victims’ families.

“They’re saying to these parents, ‘The lives of your two only children are worth $1.8 million, the same as our vessels,’” he said.

“To say that my son’s life is worth the value of a ship — it doesn’t make any sense,” said Maria Prem through an attorney. “You can build another ship. I can’t have another Szabolcs.”

A Ride the Ducks spokesman said the company does not comment on pending litigation.  A K-Sea spokesman did not respond to a message seeking comment.

The parents of the victims, who are from a small city in northwestern Hungary bordering Austria and Slovakia, were in Philadelphia for opening statements of the non-jury trial, which is expected to last about a month.

“Drowning is a slow and painful death and in the final moments you know you’re going to die,” said Peter Ronai, another attorney for the families. “For parents to know how their children suffered, they’ve been living a nightmare.”

The tug pushed the 250-foot-long barge into and over the 33-foot-long duck boat as it sat idle and anchored in the active shipping lane, sending all 35 passengers and two crew members into the fast-moving river about 150 feet from the Philadelphia shoreline.

Survivors were pulled from the murky water by firefighters, a passing ferry boat, and bystanders who swam from shore.

The victims’ bodies were recovered two days after the crash: Schwendtner was found more than a mile downriver and Prem surfaced when the duck boat was being pulled from the river bottom by a salvage barge.

The Limitation of Liability Act can be applied in accidents involving casualties when the ship owner can prove it was unaware of a problem beforehand.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs were expected to argue that was not the case, and errors by the duck boat pilot and the tug pilot, as well as insufficient training procedures and inadequate safety policies of their respective employers, all were factors in the crash.

“This accident wasn’t a freak occurrence, it wasn’t an aberration,” Mongeluzzi said. “It has its roots going back over years.”

In its 4,400-page report on the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board said the duck boat overheated on the 103-degree day because a mechanic neglected to replace a radiator cap after an inspection the night before.  The next day, the duck boat captain mistook the steam for an engine fire and shut down the vessel in the busy shipping channel, where it was hit minutes later.

Co-counsel Andrew Duffy said the team plans to present evidence that the duck boat lacked an adequate emergency air horn and radio and was designed with overhead canopies that trapped the two victims underwater when the boat capsized.  They also contend that passengers were not instructed to put on life preservers until moments before the collision, when it was too late.

They also contend that K-Sea, the tug operator, long knew its policies barring cellphone use on duty were routinely ignored yet failed to take corrective action.

In November, tug pilot Matthew Devlin of Catskill, NY, was sentenced to a year in prison after pleading guilty to the maritime equivalent of an involuntary manslaughter charge (see related story).  Prosecutors said he was on his cellphone amid a family emergency, moved to a part of the tug that blocked his view of the river, and turned down a marine radio, stifling mayday calls before the collision.

Ride the Ducks offers tours in Philadelphia; San Francisco; Branson, Mo.; Stone Mountain, Ga.; and the Cincinnati area. The company suspended its Philadelphia tours after the accident but resumed them the following spring with a shortened water route.

At about 1pm Sunday afternoon, a Duck Boat stalled on the Delaware River and was later towed safely to shore. Twenty-six passengers were on board along with two crew members. Ride The Ducks released a statement Sunday, saying in part:

“Our safety procedures worked just as they had been planned and practiced. At no time were passengers in harm’s way. It’s too early to know the exact cause of the stall. A review will be done to determine the cause of the service disruption.”

Attorney: Duck Boat Crash Victims’ Lives Worth More Than Boats; Liability Cap Should Be Lifted

May 7, 2012 5:37 AM

(A barge pushed by a tug boat bears down on a disabled duck boat in the Delaware River just before the fatal collision in July 2010. NTSB photo)

Attorney Robert Mongeluzzi, Dora Schwendtner, Duck Boat Crash, Duck Boat Trial, Ride The Ducks, Szabolcs Prem

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – An old federal maritime limitation of liability law is expected to be challenged today in a federal court in Philadelphia, another chapter in the case of the fatal duck boat collision that killed two Hungarian students nearly two years ago. The non-jury trial is expected to last about four weeks.

Killed in the collision on July 7, 2010, were two Hungarian tourists onboard the Ride the Ducks vessel: Dora Schwendtner, 16, and Szabolcs Prem, 20.

The defendants (the vessels’ operators) claim that under an 1851 federal maritime law, there should be a liability cap: the total value of the three vessels — the tug, the barge and the duck boat, which is about $1.8-million.

Attorney Robert Mongeluzzi, representing the victims’ families, says he will attempt to get the cap lifted.

“In this case, the defendants say that the value of these two children’s lives should be no more than the combined value of their duck boat, sludge barge and tug boat which is about $1.8-million.”

The victims’ families and attorney Robert Mongeluzzi (left). (Credit: John McDevitt)

Through a translator, Maria Prem, the mother of Szabolcs, says, “to say that my son’s life is worth the value of a ship doesn’t make sense.”

Mongeluzzi intends to show the operators of the tug and Ride the Ducks were negligent.

“What happened that day was because of defendants’ failure to act upon knowledge that they had for years,” like the use of cell phones on the tug and the inability to use the radio and air horn on the duck boat when the engine isn’t running.

“This is not to establish an award. This is to establish that the defendants aren’t entitled to limit their liability to the value of a damaged duck boat, a tug boat and an empty sludge barge.”

The families (through a translator) say they still are grieving the loss of their loved ones.

“We don’t really have any more holidays. We don’t have any Christmas. We don’t really have anything anymore.”

Peter Schwendtner, father of 16-year-old Dora, told reporters Sunday through a translator that he wants the companies to be taught a lesson so this will never happen again.

The families will be in court today and return to Hungary Wednesday.

A Ride the Ducks spokesman tells KYW Newsradio they have no comment on the trial, citing on-going litigation.

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The victims’ bodies were recovered two days after the crash: Schwendtner was found more than a mile downriver and Prem surfaced when the duck boat was being pulled from the river bottom by a salvage barge.

The Limitation of Liability Act can be applied in accidents involving casualties when the ship owner can prove it was unaware of a problem beforehand.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs were expected to argue that was not the case, and errors by the duck boat pilot and the tug pilot, as well as insufficient training procedures and inadequate safety policies of their respective employers, all were factors in the crash.

“This accident wasn’t a freak occurrence, it wasn’t an aberration,” Mongeluzzi said. “It has its roots going back over years.”

In its 4,400-page report on the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board said the duck boat overheated on the 103-degree day because a mechanic neglected to replace a radiator cap after an inspection the night before.  The next day, the duck boat captain mistook the steam for an engine fire and shut down the vessel in the busy shipping channel, where it was hit minutes later.

Co-counsel Andrew Duffy said the team plans to present evidence that the duck boat lacked an adequate emergency air horn and radio and was designed with overhead canopies that trapped the two victims underwater when the boat capsized.  They also contend that passengers were not instructed to put on life preservers until moments before the collision, when it was too late.

They also contend that K-Sea, the tug operator, long knew its policies barring cellphone use on duty were routinely ignored yet failed to take corrective action.

In November, tug pilot Matthew Devlin of Catskill, NY, was sentenced to a year in prison after pleading guilty to the maritime equivalent of an involuntary manslaughter charge (see related story).  Prosecutors said he was on his cellphone amid a family emergency, moved to a part of the tug that blocked his view of the river, and turned down a marine radio, stifling mayday calls before the collision.

Ride the Ducks offers tours in Philadelphia; San Francisco; Branson, Mo.; Stone Mountain, Ga.; and the Cincinnati area. The company suspended its Philadelphia tours after the accident but resumed them the following spring with a shortened water route.

At about 1pm Sunday afternoon, a Duck Boat stalled on the Delaware River and was later towed safely to shore. Twenty-six passengers were on board along with two crew members. Ride The Ducks released a statement Sunday, saying in part:

“Our safety procedures worked just as they had been planned and practiced. At no time were passengers in harm’s way. It’s too early to know the exact cause of the stall. A review will be done to determine the cause of the service disruption.”

THE UFO we have probably been seeing

DARPA’s Hypersonic Plane Test Flight Failed Due to Mach 20 Speeds

Roughly eight months ago DARPS’s HTV-2 flight failed, and the agency explained why on Monday. It was reportedly moving so fast its skin peeled off, and the unmanned plane rolled and dove into the ocean.

neilallerart: girl on cellphone falls into sinkhole

neilallerart: girl on cellphone falls into sinkhole: Girl On Cellphone Plunges Into a Sinkhole We've seen people take some serious spills because they're all walking and talking or text...

girl on cellphone falls into sinkhole

Girl On Cellphone Plunges Into a Sinkhole

We've seen people take some serious spills because they're all walking and talking or texting and not paying attention, but what happens to this poor girl is just horrible. That had to hurt.

The teenage girl in the video above was walking quickly down the street, enraptured by her conversation. She was so caught up in the call, in fact, that she didn't notice the caution blocks on the street warning her that was about to get gobbled up by a sinkhole. It's terrible to watch her plunge 20 feet straight down through the hollow ground, but you just can't look away. Fortunately, a passing cab driver saw her fall and he dove down the hole after her. Unfortunately, the earth continued to crumble and both of them were then trapped underground.

Fortunately, official assistance was quick to arrive, and according to the report from Today (below), everyone came up okay ok. Phew!

People! Cellphones are very convenient because you can have conversations anywhere, but please please please be careful. You don't want this to happen to you. But if it does, uh, could you make sure someone's filming it?

neilallerart: World Snooker Championship: Allen handed disciplin...

neilallerart: World Snooker Championship: Allen handed disciplin...: World Snooker Championship: Allen handed disciplinary charge     Mark Allen is facing a disciplinary charge after snooker's gove...

World Snooker Championship: Allen handed disciplinary charge

World Snooker Championship: Allen handed disciplinary charge 

   Mark Allen is facing a disciplinary charge after snooker's governing body started proceedings against him for his comments following his first-round defeat at the World Championship. Allen claimed that his Chinese opponent Cao Yupeng failed to declare an illegal push shot during his surprise 10-6 win over the Northern Irishman. The WPBSA said Allen would be given 14 days to respond to the charge. Allen was fined £1,000 for comments about the World Open venue in China. At his post-match press conference on Sunday, Allen also made wider allegations that Chinese players on the circuit had been involved in "fouls and blatant cheating". WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson said that the governing body took "very seriously comments made which could be perceived to be directed at a particular nation". World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn also made clear his displeasure at Allen's remarks. Use accessible player and disable flyout menus Allen comments saddens Hearn "To effectively accuse your opponent of cheating is looked on as bringing the game into disrepute," said 

Hearn. "Time and time again Mark seems unable to control himself in his public statements. Sometimes I am speechless." In response to Allen's accusation of dishonesty on the part of Cao, Hearn added: "Players have rules written in their contracts and they are not allowed to say certain things. "If they do, they are in breach of tournament regulations and will come under a disciplinary process." Hearn also welcomed the news that Allen has closed his Twitter account as it was also revealed that the Northern Irishman had been fined £1,000 for criticisms of the tournament location at the recent World Open in China. "People must realise Twitter is out there in the public domain so you have to be careful what you say. "Whether there has been a push shot or not is pretty much academic - it's the slant of the comments that Mark made afterwards. "He had the chance to say to the referee that he believed he had made a mistake, but did not take that opportunity." Allen, 26, could face a fine, suspension or expulsion if found guilty of bringing the sport into disrepute. Use accessible player and disable flyout menus The Antrim player, who admits he was "completely outplayed" by the world number 81, claimed Cao failed to declare an illegal push shot when leading 5-4. No foul was given and the 26-year-old Northern Irishman eventually lost 10-6. "I'm disgusted. The state of snooker is very sad if it has to be down to that, but it's not the first time," said Allen after the game. It is not the first time that Allen has caused controversy on the circuit. In March, he took to his Twitter account to criticise conditions at China's Haikou World Open as "horrendous". "Dead cat found this morning," he tweeted. "Any wonder this place stinks. Must be dead cats all round the town." He went on to win the event and later stood by his comments, insisting: "It would be nicer to play tournaments in the UK, but I have to go where the money is." In December, he called on World Snooker chairman Hearn to resign after changes were made to the format of major tournaments. "I've got no doubt he'll tweak the World Championship," Allen said at the time. "The whole tradition of the game is going to pot." Allen was fined for the Hearn outburst before receiving another financial penalty for his comments at the World Open.