Lake George, N.Y. ? Just days before a tour boat capsized in the Adirondack Mountains, killing 20 elderly people, the Coast Guard began rethinking its passenger-weight calculations to take into account Americans’ expanding waistlines.

At the time it flipped over, the 38-foot Ethan Allen was just under its capacity of 48 passengers – a figure that was arrived at by using a 1960 Coast Guard standard that assumes a 140-pound average for each man, woman and child, authorities said.

Investigators looking into the accident have said that too much weight may have been a factor and suggested the Coast Guard standard might have to be revised because Americans are getting heavier – something the Coast Guard recognized well before the tragedy.