Accident Investigations & Lessons Learned

Lessons learned from specific NOAA casualties or accidents

Canadian Fireboat Capsizes - investigation report 11/18/09
Small Boat Near Miss 9/10/09 (PDF)
Near Miss F/V Chasin 4/20/09 (PDF)
Electrical shock incident aboard R/V Bay Hydro II 03/31/09 (PDF)
NMFS small boat sinking incident report 7/07 (Word)
15-ft. Tiger Shark gets Mouthfull of Boat
Incident report 12/05/06 (PDF)
Man overboard 08/03/06 (PDF)
Lessons learned 07/19/06 (PDF)
Small boat incident 04/21/06 (PDF)
Lessons learned #06-01, 11/02/05 (PDF)

Other Agencies

U.S. Coast Guard

USCG Office of Investigations and Analysis - Safety Alerts and Lessons Learned Site. (will open a new window)
USCG report - Final Action on CGC HEALY Mishap (will open a new window)

NTSB

NTSB Determines Uncontrolled, Progressive Flooding Caused Sinking of Alaska Ranger

Department of Interior

Other Non-Federal Sources

The links in this section will take you to non-government web sites. The links are provided because it may contain information of interest to you. This link does not constitute an endorsement by NOAA of any information, products or services on the external site.

Coast Guard rescues three from capsized boat off St. Marys, GA: A 23-foot fishing boat capsized early Sunday morning; Jacksonville News article, June 29, 2009

Crew Aboard Sinking Vessel Draw Upon Survival Skills South Coast Today newspaper article

ETHAN ALLEN Capsizing & Sinking - JMS Stability Report

There are several significant NOAA accidents that have provided lessons to be learned for the entire NOAA small boat community. There are also many "close calls" that could have resulted in a larger casualty or damage to a boat, her crew, or the environment. The goal of these pages are to attempt to prevent accidents by learning through other's near misses or mistakes. If you are a small boat operator and you have a valuable lesson that you have learned please forward your story to the Small Boat Coordinator to include in this repository of corporate knowledge. Your identity and NOAA affiliation can remain anonymous only if sent directly to the NOAA Small Boat Program Coordinator. Information collected may eventually be used to assist in prioritizing and funding noted or repetitive safety issues.