A federal safety panel will open hearings on the sinking of a tall ship during Hurricane Sandy last October. The H-M-S Bounty set out to sea from a Connecticut port to outrun Sandy before it grew into the superstorm that slammed the northeast. The crew had to abandon ship in 30 foot swells before the tall ship sank just off Cape Hatteras. One crew member died. The body of the the ship's captain was never recovered. Coast Guard spokesman Lieutenant Mike Patterson says eight days of hearings are scheduled to find out what went wrong.
"One of the most important things is that the Coast Guard in cooperation with the N-T-S-B is conducting a thorough investigation," Patterson said. "So that we completely understand everything that played a role in leading up to this so that we can hopefully prevent incidents in the future."
The Coast Guard is not expected to release a final report on the Bounty's fate for several months.
