Tug pilot gets year in fatal Pa. duckboat crash

[RamboLiberal]

Source: USA Today

A tugboat pilot responsible for ramming into a duckboat on the Delaware River in July 2010, causing the death of two Hungarian tourists, was sentenced Tuesday to one year and a day in prison and three years of supervised release.

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Federal Judge Legrome Davis called the case "extremely difficult" because Devlin, an experienced pilot with an impeccable safety record, had neglected his duties for nearly an hour while pushing a 280-foot barge up river. He had become preoccupied with a family crisis.

The hearing was a four-hour emotional roller coaster in which Devlin said he was sorry for the deaths, and his wife, Corinne, who also took the stand, said she was to blame because she called her husband while he was piloting the tugboat with bad news about their 5-year-old son.

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In order to keep up the flurry of phone calls, he left his watch in the upper wheelhouse, where he should have been, for the lower wheelhouse, which was quieter and had Internet access, but limited sight lines. So he could talk with his family, he also turned radios down that would have alerted him to a stranded duckboat in the channel.



Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-11-02/tug-pilot-sentence/51042524/1

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Tragic but just sentence. He should have called the captain back to the wheelhouse.

[MH1]

1. Such a horrible situation all around.

I guess it's just. He should have gotten some time but his life is already ruined over one really bad decision under stress. Yeah 2 other people are dead but nothing that happens to him will bring them back.

I wouldn't have wanted to be on that jury or be that judge.