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PITTSBURGH (AP) - Disobeyed orders, overconfidence and other factors likely led a towboat to be swept over a dam in 2005, killing four of its crew members, according to a Coast Guard report released Thursday.
The license of the Elizabeth M's master was suspended for 18 months, and the report recommended that the Coast Guard consider criminal action against him and the pilot of another towboat that had been assigned to help the vessel. Coast Guard Cmdr. Steve Wischmann, however, said the U.S. Justice Department found insufficient evidence to prosecute.
The rain-swollen Ohio River swept the towboat over the Montgomery Lock and Dam in Industry, about 25 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, on Jan. 9, 2005. Three of the seven crew members survived, including the boat's master, George "Toby" Zappone.
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