Bad steering, training caused 2006 cruise ship incident aboard Crown Princess

Bad steering, training caused 2006 cruise ship incident

Federal investigators Thursday blamed a crew member's steering error for sending a cruise ship into a dangerous roll shortly after it left Port Canaveral in July 2006 -- an at-sea accident that injured nearly 300 people.

The second officer aboard the 3,200-passenger Crown Princess cruise ship shut off the autopilot system when be became concerned that the vessel was turning too sharply to the left. But when he subsequently turned the wheel several times -- including further left instead of back the other way -- it caused the ship to suddenly list nearly 24 degrees.

The second officer's steering "led to vessel responses that he did not expect, did not understand and was therefore unable to correct," the National Transportation Safety Board determined after a year-and-a-half investigation.

The agency also faulted the ship's captain and staff captain for entering poor navigation information ahead of the accident as they steamed through relatively shallow water at a high speed before shifting to autopilot. The NTSB also said that crew members aboard the Crown Princess, which is operated by Princess Cruises, were inadequately trained on its navigation system....