Coast Guard crew member was texting before accident

A crew member aboard the Coast Guard boat that hit a commercial catamaran in Charleston Harbor in December was texting just before the accident, according to federal safety investigators.

Although the cause of the accident is still under investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board said today the find raises concerns about the potential for distraction.

"The use of wireless communication devices while operating vehicles in any mode of transportation poses an unacceptable distraction," NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman.

A Coast Guard spokesman said such regulations are already in place.

The accident happened around 8:30 p.m. Dec. 5, just after the annual Christmas Parade of Boats -- a busy time on the Harbor. A 25-foot Coast Guard boat hit the tour boat Thriller, injuring six of the 22 people aboard. They were treated at local hospitals; the boat suffered above-the-water-line damage. No one on the Coast Guard boat was hurt, and the vessel was not damaged.

The NTSB issued a recommendation today that the Coast Guard address the use of cellular telephones and other wireless devices aboard U.S. Coast Guard vessels, in the wake of the Charleston collision and another in California just two weeks later.

On Dec. 20, a Coast Guard shore-based response vessel carrying a crew of five collided with a 24-foot recreational boat with 13 people aboard. An 8-year-old boy was killed in the incident, and four passengers were injured. Four petty officers are facing Coast Guard charges ranging from involuntary manslaughter to negligent homicide and dereliction of duty. A Coast Guard district commander will decide whether they face a court-martial, and the family of the dead child has sued the federal government for unspecified damages.

The NTSB said someone on the Coast Guard boat crew had been texting just prior to that incident as well.

"Accidents caused by distractions from wireless devices must cease," Hersman said. "Lives are unnecessarily put at risk and lost."

The Coast Guard issued a policy July 16 that prohibits use of the devices by the boat operator -- the person at the wheel and throttles -- at all times while under way, said Lt. Cmdr. Chris O'Neil, chief of media relations at Guard headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The policy prohibits other crew members from using the devices unless expressly approved by the boat operator, known as the coxswain, O'Neil said.

O'Neil defended the existing rule as very specific on the use of the electronic devices. That policy does not define the purposes or situations in which use can be authorized.

"It allows the coxswain to exercise judgment ... to determine whether it is prudent to allow use of that device," O'Neil said.

O'Neil could not comment on details of the two accidents, citing ongoing investigations.