in the air event failure , the dragging vessel miss paige , which was of specifications that did not require inspections by the united countries coast guard , was being operated in the sw side au bay industrial spill in louisiana by central boat rentals on service of athena construction on october 12 , 2006 . the miss megan was pulling barge ibr 234 , which was tied against the west wall of ship athena 106 , along route to a pile - driving location . apollo construction did not require its crews to pin mooring spuds ( horizontal steel beams flowing through channels in the bottom of the boat and used for moored ) securely in place on its barges and consequently this had not been done . during the ride , the aft spud on the athena 106 released from its fully raised position . the crudup dropped into the waters and strike a suspended , high - temperature natural gas tank . the resulting gas released combustion and produced a fireball that enveloped the towing pier and both barges . the master of the towing vessel and four barge workers were killed . the mrs megan deckhand and one eva worker died . one barge worker is officially listed as killed .
NTSB is responsible for investigating transportation accidents in the United States.