Tragic Boat's Operator Shut Down

Authorities: Vessel Was Short A Crewmember; Investigation Continues

(CBS/AP) 
Cleveland cautioned not to draw conclusions from the suspended certificates. "I do not believe there is any criminal culpability on any of the parties we have spoken with," he said.

The boat flipped so fast that none of the 47 passengers could put on a life jacket. People thrashed in the water, clung to the overturned boat and screamed "I can't swim!"

One woman trapped beneath the boat said she survived only after seeing daylight and swimming toward it. Forty-six passengers were from Michigan, with one from Ohio. Eight people were hospitalized with shortness of breath, broken bones and other injuries.

"I just never planned for this one," Robert Wrock, whose father, Francis, 87, died in the accident, told CBS News correspondent Trish Regan. "And if I was there, I would have saved him."

State Police Superintendent Wayne Bennett said passengers either slid or were thrown to one side of the boat after it began lurching. "And that, of course, would automatically mean an even bigger shift of weight," Bennett said.

The boat was rated for 50 passengers based on the Coast Guard standard of 150 pounds per person. Cleveland said that standard may have to be revised in light of data showing Americans growing fatter.

On Monday afternoon, crews using inflatable bags raised the sunken boat 70 feet to the surface. Orange life vests could be seen floating inside. National Transportation Safety Board investigators will examine the wreck once it's pumped out and towed to shore.

Only Colorado, Indiana and New Hampshire require adults to wear life preservers when a boat is motion, said Melissa Savage of the National Conference of State Legislatures. No state has special laws governing boaters who are elderly or infirm.

The Lake George Park Association and the sheriff's department are responsible for enforcing safety on the lake, and they may reconsider the rules governing crew size and life jacket use, particularly when elderly or infirm passengers are involved, said James Hood, a spokesman for the association.

"It seems like a logical question or at least something to review," Hood said.

The captain was not tested for drug or alcohol after the accident. The sheriff said he had no legal grounds for administering such a test. The sheriff also said Paris had a state license, rather than a Coast Guard one, which would have required a test for drugs or alcohol.

The boat was last inspected in May and no problems were found, officials said.