when blair left the "titanic" on 9 april 1912 he took with him the key to the crow's nest locker, presumably by accident. this is believed to be a reason why there were no binoculars available with the crew during the voyage. according to other versions, the binoculars were not in the locker, but were left behind in his cabin, or he took them along with him when he left the ship, as they were his personal set of binoculars. the absence of binoculars being a factor in the sinking of the "titanic", became a point of investigation in the subsequent inquiries into the sinking.