BALTIMORE (AP) -- Recovery crews equipped with sonar equipment and helicopters focused on a 1,000-square-yard area of Baltimore Harbor on Monday in the search for three people missing since a water taxi capsized during a sudden storm.
Divers were sent to investigate three objects detected in the search area that could be the missing passengers, Fire Department spokesman Kevin Cartwright said. By Monday afternoon, one of the objects was determined to be debris, Cartwright said.
There was no word on how long it would take to determine if the other two are missing passengers.
The Seaport Taxi pontoon boat overturned Saturday afternoon near Fort McHenry when the area was struck by a sudden storm with wind gusting to 55 mph. Of the 25 people on board, one died, and a man, a woman and a child were still missing.
``We have three people missing and we need to bring them home,'' Fire Department Chief William Goodwin said. ``And that's what we're committed to doing.''
The water temperature in the area had fallen to about 36 degrees Monday morning. That meant that, even in their professional-grade wet suits, the divers could only stay on the bottom for about 20 minutes at a time, Goodwin said.
They also would face zero visibility at times and treacherous debris on the bottom.
``This is an old harbor. It's not the Bahamas out there,'' Goodwin said.
Five people remained in hospitals Monday. An 8-year-old girl and a 30-year-old woman were in critical condition.
The boat and other water taxis had been trying to return to land because of the weather, the chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board said Monday.
Federal authorities were looking at the poor weather at the time of the accident, as well as the boat's condition and the actions of its two crew members, said Ellen Engleman-Conners, chairwoman of the NTSB. Both crew members survived.
In an interview Monday on CNN, she said she believed that a small craft advisory had been issued because of the weather.
``We also know that there was communication between the owner-operator and all of their vessels on the water as well as the specific communication to this captain,'' Engleman-Conners said. ``The vessels were in the process of trying to return to a safe place, to a pier where they could be moored safely.''
Navy reservists rushed to the scene after seeing the boat in trouble. The sailors described the horrific scene: survivors clinging to the overturned vessel in frigid water pounded by wind-driven rain, telling them more were trapped below.
``It was pretty hateful,'' Petty Officer Henry Zecher said. ``I'm relieved that we were able to save as many lives as we were.''
The 36-foot pontoon boat had just set off across the harbor from historic Fort McHenry on the way to the city's Fells Point when it overturned. The boat, which was at full capacity, was equipped with life preservers but passengers are not required to wear them.
Engleman-Conners said an initial inspection of the boat found that the steering system appeared to be intact.
She said officials also inspected five other boats operated by the Living Classrooms Foundation, which operates the 11 Seaport Taxis.
A spokeswoman for the nonprofit group said the boat's captain, Frank Deppner, has talked to investigators.
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