The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a public board meeting at 0930 local time on Tuesday, 17 November, 2009, on a fire in the engine room of the 221-foot-long US small passenger vessel Queen of the West.
On April 8, 2008, the vintage-style, paddlewheel vessel was travelling east on the Columbia River near Rufus, Oregon, with 124 passengers and 53 crewmembers on board, as part of a 7-day cruise. The vessel had both an automatic fire detection and fixed fire suppression system on board, which functioned properly by alerting the bridge team and suppressing the fire.
The crew contained the fire in the engine room, and the vessel did not need to be evacuated.
A summary of the Board’s final report, which will include findings, probable cause and safety recommendations, will appear on the website shortly after the conclusion of the meeting. The entire report will appear on the website several weeks later.
A live and archived webcast of the proceedings will be available on the board’s website at http://ntsb.gov/events/Boardmeeting.htm. Technical support details are available under “Board Meetings” on the NTSB website.
