Investigators seeking cause of N.Y. yacht capsizing

The July Fourth accident has left more questions than answers in the search for a definitive cause.?

By Frank Eltman,?Associated Press / July 6, 2012

Nassau County Police Det. Lt. John Azzata (r.) gives information about a fatal boating accident during a news conference in Oyster Bay, N.Y., on July 5.

Seth Wenig/AP

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Investigators are trying to learn more about the crucial seconds before a yachtcapsized?off Long Island, killing three children and leaving 24 others scrambling for their lives.

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The July Fourth accident has left more questions than answers in the search for a definitive cause. Investigators are counting on gaining knowledge from survivors and the boat itself once it is brought up from 60 feet below the surface of Long Island Sound.

Efforts to raise the boat might begin as early as Friday.

Authorities said several possibilities might have combined to doom the vessel known as Candi 1 as it was being positioned so passengers could watch fireworks.

Nassau County Detective Lt. John Azzata said the cause remained under investigation but possibilities include the weather, overcrowding and a wake from another vessel. He said the area was busy with boaters watching the fireworks.

The boat's skipper, Sal Aureliano, has told TV's News12 Long Island that he saw two lightning bolts and then a wave suddenly hit the 34-foot boat off Oyster Bay, on the north shore of Long Island.

"It turned the boat around," he said, his voice cracking. "It just turned the boat. I didn't see it. It was dark. I didn't see it."

"The next thing I know, we're turning, and we just kept turning, and everybody was in the water. It was chaos," said Aureliano, who didn't answer the door to The Associated Press.

Authorities said the children who died got trapped in the cabin.

Killed were Aureliano's nephew David Aureliano, 12, and two girls, 11-year-old Harley Treanor and 8-year-old Victoria Gaines. No serious injuries were reported by the 24 other adult-and-children passengers who were rescued from the water, mostly by fellow boaters.

The Silverton yacht was built in 1984 but purchased recently. The yacht company filed for bankruptcy in April, and no one was available to say what the maximum number aboard should be.

The boat's owner is Kevin Treanor, said attorney James Mercante, who was hired by an insurance company to represent him. Mercante said he had not spoken with Treanor but emphasized Treanor wasn't the yacht's operator when the accident occurred.

Telephone calls to Treanor's home and work telephones went unanswered Thursday night.

Police and the Coast Guard would not say how many of those aboard were adults and how many were children. Safety experts said most boats have a manufacturer's plate that lists capacity by number of adults and by total weight. So theoretically, a boat could safely handle more passengers if some were children.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/3ga_yzOFTbs/Investigators-seeking-cause-of-N.Y.-yacht-capsizing

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