the lookouts at the time of the collision, frederick fleet and reginald lee, maintained during the inquiries that they were informed they were to have no binoculars during the voyage. fleet, when asked by a commission of inquiry composed of members of the united states congress whether or not they would have seen the iceberg from farther away, replied that he would have seen it "a bit sooner". when asked "how much sooner?", he responded: "well, enough to get out of the way." according to legal expert gary slapper, though, blair's "forgetfulness wasn't a material reason for the disaster" as there were other intervening causes.