NTSB to release El Faro VDR transcript

The National Transportation Safety Board on Dec. 13 will open the docket for its investigation into the sinking of the TOTE Maritime cargo ship last October to the public, including a detailed transcript of audio from the vessel’s voyage data recorder.    The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Wednesday it will open the docket for its investigation into the sinking of the TOTE Maritime cargo ship El Faro to the public on Dec. 13, 2016.
   The docket includes factual information about weather, engineering, survival factors, and data from the El Faro’s “black box,” known as a voyage data recorder (VDR), as well as a detailed transcript of audio from the vessel’s bridge.
   The El Faro sank Oct. 1, 2015 near the Bahamas after sailing into the path of Hurricane Joaquin, claiming the lives of all 33 crew members on board.
   Wreckage from the ship, which was en route from Jacksonville, Fla. to San Juan, Puerto Rico at the time of the incident, was discovered by NTSB investigators on Oct. 31. With the assistance of the U.S. Navy, NTSB in April returned to the wreck to search for its VDR, which was buried under about 15,000 feet of water.
   The board retrieved the El Faro’s VDR on Aug. 8 and has since been investigating its contents, which included over 26 hours of bridge audio and weather and navigational data.
   NTSB noted the public docket will only contain factual information collected by investigators.
   “The public docket does not provide analysis, findings, recommendations or probable cause determinations, and as such, no conclusions about how or why an accident occurred should be drawn from the docket,” NTSB said in a statement. “Providing the docket affords the public the opportunity to see what information has been gathered about the accident. Any analysis, findings, recommendations or probable cause determinations related to the accident will be issued by the NTSB at a later date.”