Dangerous river curtails search for missing boaters

LOUISVILLE — Dangerous water conditions in the Ohio River continue to force authorities to limit their search for three people missing after a pontoon boat struck a construction barge and capsized Saturday night.

Responsibility for the recovery operation and investigation was turned over to Louisville Metro Police Department on Monday morning as the hopes of finding the missing dwindled after a nearly 48 hours of searching.

"We're not ruling out a remote chance, but for the most part we are in a recovery mode," said Louisville Fire Chief Greg Frederick.

Though a number of agencies continue to aid in the surface search efforts, LMPD says it may be as late as next week before they can get divers back in the water. They said the debris drifting from upriver, strong currents and murky water convinced them it was too big of a hazard for divers.

These same river conditions are thought to have contributed to the capsizing of the pontoon on Saturday. There is no warning system to alert novice boat operators about dangerous water conditions.

Family members have identified the missing as Danal Swinney, 38, and his 10-year-old daughter Dasia Swinney. Joyce Wright, a friend of Swinney's, was also identified by Danal Swinney's family as being on the boat when the incident occurred.

Frederick said a long-distance surveillance footage shows the boat crossing on Saturday night near the construction of the new bridge close to the Indiana side of the Ohio River. As the boat seems to fight strong currents, Frederick said the pontoon seems to travel near a construction barge for safety.

This is where Frederick said the video appears to show the pontoon being pinned against the barge by the current on its right side and eventually capsizing. Extensive damage to the right side of the boat seems to confirm this, he said.

"With the rains that we've had the river is probably at its most swift current that we've seen in a number of years outside of flood stage," said LMPD Sgt. Dan Assef. "All the gates are fully open on the dams which provides a lot of current."

Though conditions on the river have made searching a dangerous affair for police and local agencies who patrol the waterways, no restrictions were put in place Saturday to keep novice boaters off the water.

A number of agencies from Louisville and Southern Indiana have what is known as concurrent jurisdiction over the river and state regulations, but Frederick said only the Coast Guard can choose to prevent inexperienced boaters from attempt to maneuver through dangerous waters.

Frederick also said the Coast Guard was not one of the many agencies patrolling the waters during Louisville's Fourth of July celebration.

During special celebrations or constructions, U.S. Coast Guard Sgt. Terry Allen said local agencies have the authority to restrict water use, but the authority for doing so because of water conditions falls on the Coast Guard.

Allen said he is not aware of any time the Coast Guard has restricted river access during high water condition such as Saturday. The Coast Guard is concerned mainly with enforcement and regulation of commercial vessels operated by professionals.

In Kentucky, anyone over 18 with a valid driver's license can rent a boat. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, Kentucky does not require anyone over 18 to receive any classes or training before "self-captaining" a boat. Anyone between 16 and 18 must take classes to operate a boat greater than 10 horsepower.

There is also no requirement that boat renters tell clients the current conditions on the river before the decide to take a boat out on the river. It is still unclear whether or not Danal Swinney knew about the currents and debris floating down the Ohio River before he decided to captain the pontoon Saturday.

"It's like sometimes you go down to Mexico and they ask if you are trained to scuba dive and all these people say 'yes,' because they don't want to pay for the training session," Frederick said. "Then they get out in the ocean and you got all these people who don't know how to dive."

The U.S. Coast Guard headquarters in Indianapolis said 17 boating accidents have occurred on the Ohio River between 2012 and 2014 with six injuries and three fatalities. Saturday's incident was the first boating accident on the river in 2015.