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• Reputation: 733 Q&A: 22 0 4 224 16 1 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0 Danger

  1 0 Well reading the article it sounds like the captain saw it coming so it probably wasn't an asleep-at-the-wheel type situation. I have 20 years of boating experience and what I find curious is that two distinct systems seem to have failed: the engine kill mechanisms and the steering. Diesels can go into a 'runaway' condition where they are very difficult to stop and the RPMs increase uncontrollably. Still, any mechanic should be able to avoid this problem by simply cutting the fuel, assuming he or she was listening to their poor engine (sigh). Many crashes like this are caused by people leaving the autopilot on and not actually watching for obstacles in front of them. Look out on Elliott bay or lake washington next weekend, I promise you that 4-5% of the powerboats are not paying any attention to the 'road'. However, this seems an unlikely scenario since the crew had time to brace for impact. My bet is a hydraulic failure. This could make a boat unsteerable and possibly make remote control of fuel valves ineffective. Then again occam's razor suggests pilot error, we'll see. Danger answered in Whatever about 1 year ago | Report 4 comments by CleverScreenName, Danger, and Geni… 0 0 According to WSB, they were only going 6 knots at the time of impact. Even if the captain killed engine, would inertia keep it moving that much? CleverScreenName commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 Yeah, the taxi is big enough that it would take a little while to stop. Several hundred tons moving at 6 knots is a LOT of force. My point thought, is why didn't they turn away from the dock? Or if it was too late even just try to take it more on the beam and reduce the forward impact? I'm interested to hear the results of the investigation. Danger commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 6 knots with that much mass is actually pretty fast, especially if they were already near the dock. It takes a LONG time to stop or turn a large vessel. It is unfortunate that there is no backup system to the hydraulic steering (presuming that was the issue). Geni commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 Yeah, what Geni said. Just imagine how the crew of the Titanic felt... "Cagey" commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  2 4 It's sort of like Seattle's answer to Sully Sullenberger? Only not so New York, with all that East Coast style, you know, not smashing into things and whatever those people do there. Avoiding hitting the dock altogether is the kind of showoff heroism that those New Yorkers go in for but here in Seattle we like our heroes more... more... Er, what's the word? Not so much more anything, as, less. Yes. Less. elenchos answered in Whatever about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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