Weight probe in US boat tragedy

The boat sank in calm conditions on a lake popular with tourists

Investigators probing the capsizing of a tour boat in the US state of New York, that killed 20 tourists, will consider whether weight was a factor.

The tragedy happened just days after the US coastguard had begun to re-think its weight limits to take into account Americans' expanding waistlines.

Coast Guard spokeswoman Angela McArdle said current weight limits were "not an accurate average to be using".

Other factors being looked at include lack of crew and waves in the lake.

Officials have already said the Ethan Allen boat had been carrying only one crew-member, the captain, and not two as required by law.

And the captain, Richard Paris, has told investigators the boat, which was 100 yards (metres) from the shore of Lake George, was hit by waves from other vessels.

The acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, Mark Rosenker, told a press conference investigators would carry out a number of tests on the boat.

One would be to determine how the Ethan Allen would have handled at various speeds carrying a maximum load of 50 people each with an average weight of 11st 4lb (160lb, 72.5kg).

'Shocked and saddened'

The boat was carrying 47 passengers at the time, using a New York standard based on an average person weighing 10st 7lb (150lb, 68kg).

If you look around at average people, you know this is not an accurate average to be using Angela McArdle US Coast Guard

The US Coast Guard currently calculates its weight limits based on each person weighing an average of 10st (140lb, 63.5kg).

"We are looking at that and we know that if you look around at average people, you know this is not an accurate average to be using," said Ms McArdle.

She told the press conference the Coast Guard had not moved more quickly to change its regulations because "it has such wide-ranging implications".

The boat was taking its elderly passengers, from Michigan, across the picturesque lake, 320km (200 miles) north of New York City, to see the colours of the changing season.

It went down so quickly, none of the passengers managed to put on a life jacket. Survivors said the plastic chairs they had been sitting on were not fixed and slid to one side.

Police say Shoreline Cruises, which owned and operated the vessel, could be fined for failing to provide a second crew-member.

Regulators have suspended the licences of Shoreline Cruises' five other boats.

Shoreline's owner, James Quirk, said he was "shocked and saddened" by the tragedy, adding in a statement: "This company's been in the passenger boat business for 27 years and until this event we have had a perfect record."