El Faro

[GA-Midnight Cruise]

Nine weeks ago, the NTSB recovered the voyage data recorder of the El Faro, gleaning 26 hours of information from that ship's bridge. The vessel met it's fate while steaming and subsequently losing propulsion while in the path of Hurricane Joaquin, on the morning of Oct, 1st, 2015. Finally resting 3 miles below the surface off Crooked Island, Bahamas. This is the most significant American maritime, loss of life event, since the George Prince accident on 20 October 1976. A small automobile ferry crossing the Mississippi River in Louisiana as it collided with the tanker Frosta. It capsized and sank. 78 lives lost. I'm reminded of the story, "Sully", Miracle on the Hudson, and the speculation, opinions and viewpoints while the investigation was ongoing. With that fresh in my mind, I will encourage refrain from speculation and to allow the NTSB to do their diligent work. Professionally, I'm on the private sector side of the transportation industry and completely unrelated to my maritime passion. But, I will defend the NTSB's incorrect portrayal in the production of "Sully" as an injustice to their professionalism. I encourage all pilots, air or water, to refrain from gossip and speculation. Sulley is a hero, a professional and a pilot's, pilot. He is and will always be, center square of a precious moment in American history. The NTSB's findings confirmed what we all knew. It is a necessary process. The 33 seamen who lost their lives on the El Faro are due the respect and the truth born of this process. We should await the report patiently. GA-Midnight Cruise.

 

[Scuffy]

I'm no expert but I think the decision to set sail under those given circumstances says it all for me.

 

[Crewdog]

El Faro Memorial Dedication, Jacksonville FL

 

[GA-Midnight Cruise]

I'll attribute this from the Seafarer's International Union's website. If you want to drill into the NTSB's docket, the incident number is DCA16MM001. We saw an extensive release this week of factual reports from the Voyage Data Recorder. The investigation is still progressing and will be some time before conclusion statements are made.You can also see the latest press briefing regarding the factual reports on Youtube.

The transcript from the El Faro’s voyage data recorder bridge audio was one of five factual reports added Tuesday to the NTSB’s El Faro investigation docket as part of the agency’s ongoing investigation into the maritime tragedy.

Entered into the docket were factual reports from the Electronic Data Group, Meteorology Group, Survival Factors Group, Engineering Group and the Voyage Data Recorder Audio Transcript Group.

NTSB Chairman Christopher Hart was joined by the agency’s Director of the Office of Research and Engineering, James Ritter, and Brian Curtis, Director of the Office of Marine Safety, in a press briefing in which they described the documents within the docket and provided highlights of the information contained within the docket.

The Engineering Group Factual Report contains information about the El Faro’s machinery system, a description and history of the vessel, maintenance histories for the plant, survey and inspection information, the vessel’s safety management system, and information about the training and experience of the El Faro’s engineering staff.

The Survival Factors Group Factual Report contains information about the U.S. Coast Guard’s search efforts, the El Faro’s survival equipment, crew preparedness, lifeboat standards and regulations, and information about distress transmissions.

The Electronic Data Group Factual Report provides a system overview and discussion of data recovered from the El Faro’s voyage data recorder and other onboard electronic systems. The ship’s voyage data recorder captured 26 hours of data in 11 parameters leading up to the sinking of the vessel. The 11 parameters were:

-Bridge Audio
-Date
-Time
-VDR power supply status
-Position and other GPS data
-Heading
-Course
-Speed
-Rate of Turn
-Wind data
-Automatic Identification System data

The Meteorology Group Factual Report provides information about what meteorological information was available to the El Faro’s crew.

The Voyage Data Recorder Audio Transcript Group Factual Report contains the transcript of the discernable and relevant bridge audio captured by the VDR. Members of the group included the NTSB, the U.S. Coast Guard and Tote Services – the owner of the El Faro.

The NTSB considers the information captured in the VDR’s bridge audio recording critical to determining the events leading up to the loss of the El Faro. The bridge audio was characterized as “poor quality” and contains high levels of background noise; however, this is not considered unusual. There were six microphones positioned throughout the El Faro’s bridge. Extensive digital audio filtering was necessary to enhance the audio. The entire 26-hour recording was reviewed many times, with some statements reviewed more than 100 times by the VDR audio transcript group to ensure they understood what was being said in the recording. About 10 hours of audio was determined to be relevant to the investigation and therefore transcribed by the VDR audio transcript group. The transcript required more than 1,100 work hours to complete. The transcript report is more than 500 pages and is the longest transcript ever produced by the NTSB.

 

[GA-Midnight Cruise]

The NTSB released an update for the docket on the second anniversary of the sinking of the El Faro. This cast net is wide and there is no one smoking gun. There were some surprises and revelations re: the Alternative Compliance Program (ACP) for inspected vessels implemented by the USCG. This in addition to the earlier releases of mid-level Wind Shear forecasting deficiencies, risk mitigation of the Captain and Tote marine's management.