WASHINGTON (970 WFLA) -- A lack of training and a lack of maintenance... a federal agency points to those factors in a ferry boat fire in the Gulf near Tampa that killed one woman and sent 14 others to hospitals.
National Transportation Safety Board chairman Robert Sumwalt says too many small passenger boat operators are not following good safety practices.
"Safety isn't something that you have... it's something you do... and are we requiring vessel operators to do it?," Sumwalt asked at the opening of Tuesday's hearing.
The NTSB report says the captain of the Island Lady was the only person on board with proper training for handling a boat fire. It also says the boat owner did not follow maintenance schedules set by the company that built its engine. The report instructs the casino ferry boat owners to follow through with maintenance schedules and in training workers how to deal with boat fires.