Tug pilot gets year in deadly duck boat crash

November 1, 2011 at 2:24p.m.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A tug pilot distracted by a family emergency has been sentenced to one year and a day in prison for a deadly river crash in Philadelphia.

Pilot Matthew Devlin of Catskill, N.Y., was on a cellphone and laptop for nearly an hour before ramming a huge barge into a stalled duck boat.

The July 2010 crash killed two Hungarian students and sent 35 others into the Delaware River.

Both sides agree a string of incredible events led to the crash.

But U.S. District Judge Legrome Davis noted that if Devlin had done just one thing differently, he could have broken that chain and avoided the crash.

Instead, Devlin failed to go on break, moved to the lower wheelhouse, turned off the marine radios and used the cell phone and laptop.