NTSB holding news conference on Conception dive boat on its 5th year anniversary

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The National Transportation Safety Board is holding a news conference on Conception dive boat safety recommendations Monday afternoon, which also marks the 5th year anniversary of the tragic incident.

According to the NTSB, the response is to call for major improvements to small passenger vessels. The NTSB is also calling for additional action on safety recommendations issued after its investigation of the 2019 Conception dive boat fire that killed 34 people off the coast of Santa Cruz Island on Labor Day.

The vessel was anchored 25 miles south of Santa Barbara and caught fire before dawn on the final day of a three-day excursion, sinking less than 100 feet from shore.

Captain of the dive boat, Jerry Boylan, 70, was the first to abandon ship and jump overboard and four other crew members did the same. However, 33 passengers and one crew member died.

Boylan was sentenced to four years in prison and three years of supervised release. Currently, Boylan remains out of prison while his appeal is ongoing.

But recently Boylan was ordered to pay about $32,000 in restitution to the families of three of the 34 people killed aboard the vessel.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy will hold the news conference, at approximately 2:00 p.m., at the MV Conception Memorial located in Point Castillo.