Drivers always slow down and rubberneck at car accidents, don't they? Like me, you may have caught yourself complaining about the practice and wondering "Why are people so morbid that they have to slow down and look?" That's what we all say, at least until we get close enough to see, and though we might strain our eyes to avoid looking like we are looking, we drive just a … [Read more...]
Bounty Hearing Day 1: Chief Mate Testifies
Editor's Note: This is part 1 of Mario Vittone's 8-part series from the U.S. Coast Guard's formal hearing into the October 29, 2012 sinking of the tall ship Bounty off the Coast of Hatteras, North Carolina during Hurricane Sandy, resulting in the loss of two lives, including the Captain and a crew member. The hearing took place with the National Transportation Safety Board … [Read more...]
The Whole Truth – Bounty Hearings – Day 8
What happened to Bounty on the morning of October 29th, 2012? Finding out what went wrong and why, when things happened or didn't, and who said what to whom - it's almost impossible. Details have come to light and we've learned things, but most of them - all of them really - came from testimony. It's been eight days of questions and answers, a high stakes game of he said, she … [Read more...]
The 17th Passenger – Bounty Hearings – Day 7
At the start of each day of the hearings, Commander Kevin Carroll does the same thing: he reads a statement. He tells all in attendance, "The purpose of the investigation is to determine the cause of the casualty and the responsibility therefore to the fullest extent possible; and to obtain information for the purpose of preventing or reducing the effects of similar casualties … [Read more...]
The Cost of Waiting – Bounty Hearings – Day 6
Tangled in rigging, he was dragged under the water again. This time he wasn't coming up. With no chance to get a breath and struggling to free himself, he started to inhale water. Joshua Scornavacchi, one of Bounty's young deckhands, was drowning. "I started to lose muscle control...and I kept taking on water and then I got really upset because I had promised my mom and my … [Read more...]