in the gas explosion situation , the towed vessel miss mallory , which was of description that did not warrant inspection by the republic states usc patrol , was being performed in the west cap blanche field air mine in louisiana by central boat rentals on receipt of athena construction on oct 12 , 2006 . the miss megan was pushing barge ibr 234 , which was carried along the starboard corner of barge athena 106 , en route to a pile - driver situation . athena construction did not required its crews to pin moorings spuds ( vertical iron shafts extending through spaces in the bottom of the boat and used for mooring ) securely in place on its barges and yet this had not been done . during the journey , the aft crudup on the delta 106 releasing from its fully elevated position . the webb lifted into the water and penetrated a submerged , upper - altitude natural gas pipeline . the resulting gas released sparked and created a fireball that enclosed the dragging vessel and both workers . the master of the towing facility and four barge owners were killed . the miss megan deckhand and one barge worker survives . one downstream worker is specifically noted as missing .
NTSB is responsible for investigating transportation accidents in the United States.