NTSB ADVISORY

National Transportation Safety Board to meet on QUEEN OF THE WEST engineroom fire in Oregon. Meeting to take place in Washington on November 17th.

The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a public Board meeting on Tuesday, November 17, 2009, at 9:30 a.m., in its Board Room and Conference Center, 429 L'Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington, D.C. There is one agenda item.

On April 8, 2008, a fire broke out in the engineroom of the 221-foot-long U.S. small passenger vessel Queen of the West. The vintage-style, paddlewheel vessel was traveling 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 was able to contain the fire to the engineroom, and the vessel did not need to be evacuated.

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. To report any problems, please call 703-993-3100 and ask for Webcast Technical Support.

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.

Directions to the NTSB Board Room: Front door located on Lower 10th Street, directly below L'Enfant Plaza. From Metrorail, exit L'Enfant Plaza station at 9th and D Streets escalator, walk through shopping mall, at CVS store (on the left), take escalator (on the right) down one level. The Board Room will be to your left.

Media contact: Keith Holloway / 202-314-6100
E-Mail: [email protected]