3 Still Missing From Baltimore Water Taxi
At Least Four Believed Dead

FOSTER KLUG
Associated Press

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Recovery crews equipped with sonar equipment and
helicopters focused on a 1,000-square-yard area of Baltimore Harbor on
Monday in the search for three people missing since a water taxi capsized
during a sudden storm.


Divers were sent to investigate three objects detected in the search area
that could be the missing passengers, Fire Department spokesman Kevin
Cartwright said. By Monday afternoon, one of the objects was determined to
be debris, Cartwright said.


There was no word on how long it would take to determine if the other two
are missing passengers.


The Seaport Taxi pontoon boat overturned Saturday afternoon near Fort
McHenry when the area was struck by a sudden storm with wind gusting to 55
mph. Of the 25 people on board, one died, and a man, a woman and a child
were still missing.


``We have three people missing and we need to bring them home,'' Fire
Department Chief William Goodwin said. ``And that's what we're committed to
doing.''


The water temperature in the area had fallen to about 36 degrees Monday
morning. That meant that, even in their professional-grade wet suits, the
divers could only stay on the bottom for about 20 minutes at a time, Goodwin
said.


They also would face zero visibility at times and treacherous debris on the
bottom.

``This is an old harbor. It's not the Bahamas out there,'' Goodwin said.

Five people remained in hospitals Monday. An 8-year-old girl and a
30-year-old woman were in critical condition.

The boat and other water taxis had been trying to return to land because of
the weather, the chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board said
Monday.

Federal authorities were looking at the poor weather at the time of the
accident, as well as the boat's condition and the actions of its two crew
members, said Ellen Engleman-Conners, chairwoman of the NTSB. Both crew
members survived.

In an interview Monday on CNN, she said she believed that a small craft
advisory had been issued because of the weather.

``We also know that there was communication between the owner-operator and
all of their vessels on the water as well as the specific communication to
this captain,'' Engleman-Conners said. ``The vessels were in the process of
trying to return to a safe place, to a pier where they could be moored
safely.''

Navy reservists rushed to the scene after seeing the boat in trouble. The
sailors described the horrific scene: survivors clinging to the overturned
vessel in frigid water pounded by wind-driven rain, telling them more were
trapped below.

``It was pretty hateful,'' Petty Officer Henry Zecher said. ``I'm relieved
that we were able to save as many lives as we were.''

The 36-foot pontoon boat had just set off across the harbor from historic
Fort McHenry on the way to the city's Fells Point when it overturned. The
boat, which was at full capacity, was equipped with life preservers but
passengers are not required to wear them.


Engleman-Conners said an initial inspection of the boat found that the
steering system appeared to be intact.

She said officials also inspected five other boats operated by the Living
Classrooms Foundation, which operates the 11 Seaport Taxis.

A spokeswoman for the nonprofit group said the boat's captain, Frank
Deppner, has talked to investigators.



Two Dead After Pontoon Boat Capsizes


BALTIMORE -- One woman and one child were killed Saturday as divers attempt
to recover 3 people missing after a pontoon boat carrying 25 people capsized
during a fierce rain and windstorm in the Patapsco River near the Inner
Harbor.

Officials said 22 people were recovered -- including one child and one
adult who were in cardiac arrest. Six of those were taken to a nearby
hospital after being pulled from the water, and their conditions were not
immediately known.

Baltimore City fire department said a child was taken to Shock Trauma and
later died. A woman in her 50s taken to Bayview Medical Center also died,
Baltimore city police said.

WBAL-TV reported out of those rescued, the U.S. Naval Reserves based in
Baltimore rescued 12 from the water. The station talked to a witness who
said she saw life vests floating in the water shortly after the accident.

Originally, it was believed the vessel was a water taxi, but there is new
information that suggests it may have been a pontoon boat from the Living
Classrooms Foundation. <http://www.livingclassrooms.org/> However, the
foundation also owns a water taxi as well.

Lead investigative reporter Jayne Miller said the boat was leaving Fort
McHenry and attempted to make a U-turn when a storm with heavy rain and
powerful winds that came through the city at about the time of the accident.
Miller said the boat was flipped by the high winds and choppy water near
Fort McHenry in south Baltimore about 4 p.m.

The Inner Harbor is one of the nation's oldest seaports and draws millions
of tourists every year. Water taxis ferry thousands of visitors to the many
points on the harbor.