Kentucky's top transportation official has told the National Transportation Safety Board that navigation lights on bridges are working properly and that workers who inspect and maintain the lights are properly trained.
The Paducah Sun reported Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Secretary Mike Hancock sent a letter to the federal government saying that the training of transportation personnel was carried out well in advance of the NTSB's publicly recommending such action.
The NTSB and the U.S. Coast Guard is investigating the crash of the M/V Delta Mariner, a ship owned by Foss Maritime Co., into the Eggner's Ferry bridge on the Tennessee River and Kentucky Lake on Jan. 26.
At the time of the crash a signal maintenance crew was engaged in a project to correct short-circuiting in the navigation lights.