No Night Watch Doomed the ‘Conception’
Final Accident Report in Santa Barbara Dive-Boat Tragedy Lays Blame on Lack of Procedure
The National Transportation Safety Board strongly criticized the safety procedures onboard the Conception and the regulations that allowed such inadequate standards, in its final report released on October 20. It also indicated criminal charges were coming from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the tragedy that claimed 34 lives off the coast of Santa Cruz Island on Labor Day weekend in 2019.
The report details a deadly chain of circumstances including the long-standing lack of a night watch aboard the ship, an escape hatch that led to the fiery salon, and no smoke detectors in the salon to sound the alarm earlier. These factors contributed to the 34 deaths since the victims, most of whom were awake below deck when the fire broke out, were unable to escape, ultimately succumbing to smoke that smothered them.
“The absence of the required roving patrol on the Conception delayed detection and allowed for the growth of the fire, precluded firefighting and evacuation efforts, and directly led to the high number of fatalities in the accident,” the report stated.
