Did sex play role in ferry crash? Queen of the North

Did sex play role in ferry crash?
Draft report of fatal B.C. accident expected in days
Feb 08, 2007 / Toronto Star

The Transportation Safety Board confirmed yesterday it has investigated the possibility that sex was taking place on the bridge of B.C. ferry, Queen of the North, when it sank last year.

"We've heard that, as part of the investigation," spokesman John Cottreau told the Star's editorial board. "That's been hinted at."

A draft report on the sinking – in which two passengers were missing and presumed dead – is to be delivered to the board within days, said board chair Wendy Tadros. The draft goes next to interested parties for comment, with a final public report expected in three to six months, Tadros said.

"There has been speculation out there (about sexual relations) but we wouldn't comment on that," a spokesperson for B.C. Ferries, which is doing its own investigation, said by phone.

Two crew members – a man and a woman – were reported to have been on the command bridge at the time the Queen of the North sank at 12:22 a.m. last March 22, after crashing at full speed into rocks off Gil Island, south of Prince Rupert.

Of 101 passengers aboard, 99 were rescued. The two others are listed as missing but have not officially been declared dead.

In a briefing on the agency's activities, Tadros also said that a draft report on the Air France crash-landing at Pearson airport in August 2005 is to be delivered by next week.

In that event, an airliner overshot the runway and plunged into a ravine. All 297 passengers and 12 crew escaped before the plane was engulfed in flames.

On the subject of Canada's rail system, Tadros said the relatively high number of train derailments in 2005 seems to be an anomaly rather than a trend.

"Derailments decreased 30 per cent in 2006 over 2005," she said, "and were down 8 per cent in 2006 from the five-year average."

The Transportation Safety Board is an independent government agency charged with investigating and reporting on transportation accidents with a view toward enhancing safety.