WASHINGTON, D.C. (NEWS CENTER) -- The final 26 hours of El Faro's final voyage indicate the vessel's captain would not change course despite briefings from his first and second mate, according to the NTSB press conference.
The conference was held at 9:30 a.m., Tuesday, December 13, 2016, in the NTSB Board Room and Conference Center, 429 L’Enfant Plaza SW.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) revealed that only 10 hours of the final 26 recorded are being released. The law allows NTSB to reveal only pertinent information being used towards the investigation. These documents come 14 months after El Faro sank during Hurricane Joaquin, on October 1, 2015, and all 33 crew members aboard perished in the accident.
An unprecedented 500-page docket of factual information was gathered by the NTSB. "The transcripts do not tell the full story the of the accident, says NTSB DIRECTOR. Analysis of these facts is ongoing."
On August 8, 2016, the ship’s voyage data recorder was recovered from the ocean floor at a depth of about 15,000 feet.
A voyage data recorder (VDR) group reviewed the audio recordings approximately 100 times before releasing this docket. The NTSB says any analysis, findings, recommendations, or cause of the accident will be issued by the NTSB at a later date. At this time we know that the VDR group determined that voices of the captain and first mate were the last to be heard. The VDR team would not make any comments on the mood or state of mind of the captain and crew on board during the critical moments.
Five factual reports will be added to the El Faro investigation docket Tuesday. NTSB Office of Marine Safety Director Brian Curtis talked about the weather, engineering, survival factors, and data from the El Faro’s voyage data recorder. The docket will also contain the transcript from the voyage data recorder’s audio recording.The initial electronics reports and additional nautical operations will be released next year.
CHRIS ROSE will update this story once he reviews all pertinent pages of EL Faro's 500-page transcript.