Deposition: Pilot says he could have avoided crash
May 11, 2012, 3:17 PM
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – The tugboat pilot convicted in the collision of a barge and tour boat that killed two Hungarian tourists says he could have avoided the crash if he’d stayed at his post.
KYW-AM (
http://cbsloc.al/IIFfPx) reports that first mate Matt Devlin said in a taped deposition he would have needed about 200 feet to stop the barge in the conditions at the time of the July 2010 collision on the Delaware River near the Philadelphia shoreline.
The deposition was recorded for a civil trial that ended earlier this week when the tour company and tug operator agreed to a $17 million settlement.
Devlin was on his cellphone for a family emergency when the crash happened. He’s serving a one-year sentence for the maritime equivalent of involuntary manslaughter.
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Information from: KYW-AM,
http://www.kyw1060.com
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
