Investigations
On October 3, the Ethan Allen was raised by investigators and brought to the Warren County Airport. By Friday, two of the survivors who returned to Michigan filed lawsuits for damages of $70,000 each. The following week, the Ethan Allen was returned to Lake George for a series of tests to determine what caused it to capsize. According to WRGB, the Mohican was used during tests on three consecutive days. On October 15 it was confirmed that the Ethan Allen was making a sharp turn and that weight was a factor for the capsizing. The most shocking rumor was that the glass windows on the boat had acted like a box, trapping the passengers inside. However, it was later established by the NTSB that there were no glass windows; they were made of acrylic glass and fitted in a swing-up frame. The frame attaches to the overhead. At the time of the accident they were swung up and out of the way. They remained in that position even with the boat sinking and were still up when the boat was recovered. Further reports showed that with the canopy installed the capacity rating of the boat was 14 people. There were 47 people on the boat the day of the incident.
On November 4, the alcohol results came back from the toxicology center. They showed that the captain of the Ethan Allen had been drinking several days prior to October 2 but that he did not drink alcohol on the day of the accident.
Read more about this topic: Ethan Allen Boating Accident