Staten Island Ferry Crash

[JimmyBlueEyes]

I'm watching this on the news now, there is some serious damage on the inside of the ferry...looks like it hit the corner of the pier and not the actual slip. Wood pilings wouldn't have done that much damage...
Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn!!!

[The Brain]

Originally posted by JimmyBlueEyes
I'm watching this on the news now, there is some serious damage on the inside of the ferry...looks like it hit the corner of the pier and not the actual slip. Wood pilings wouldn't have done that much damage...
Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn!!!

<img src=http://a.abclocal.go.com/images/wabc/2003/wabc_101503_ferry21.jpg>

They believe the ferry hit a concrete construction pier.

The thick steel support columns were all snapped in half and bent back. :o

In addition, the news stations are all reporting that one of the co-captains (the ferry has two at all times) apparently fled to his home following the incident, slit his wrists, and shot himself twice in the chest with a pellet gun. He must have changed his mind about suicide, since he called 911 to report that he was responsible for the crash, and they got him to a hospital.

*UPDATE: Additional reports on the captain who fled indicate that he may have been asleep at the wheel at the time, and for whatever reason his co-captain was not also at the helm.

[JimmyBlueEyes]

yeah it looks like the boat hit the corner of that pier and then they moved the boat into the slip by tug, I presume. I didn't think, like I said before, that the wood pilings wouldn't have done that much damage.

[Subzero316]

From yahoonews.com:


Staten Island Ferry Crash Leaves 10 Dead

NEW YORK - A Staten Island ferry slammed into a pier as it was docking Wednesday, killing at least 10 people, tearing off victims' limbs and reducing the front of the mighty vessel to a tangled mass of wood, glass and steel. At least 34 people were injured.

The ferry pilot, responsible for docking the vessel, fled the scene immediately after the crash, went to his Staten Island home and attempted suicide by slitting his wrists and shooting himself with a pellet gun, a police official told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. The pilot was rushed to the same hospital as many of the victims and underwent surgery.

After interviewing another crew member, authorities began investigating whether the pilot was asleep at the wheel as the boat approached land, a law enforcement source told the AP.

The 310-foot ferry, carrying about 1,500 passengers, plowed into the enormous wooden pilings on the Staten Island end of its run from Manhattan at 3:20 p.m., ripping a giant hole in the three-level, bright-orange vessel.

\"There was a lady without legs, right in the middle of the boat,\" said ferry passenger Frank Corchado, 29. \"She was screaming. You ever see anything like that?\"

Corchado said it felt as if the ferry accelerated as it approached land, waking him as he napped on the trip home to Staten Island. He ran away from the front of the boat to safety, but saw others who weren't as lucky — six people dead, including one who had been decapitated.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at least 10 people were killed and 34 injured, making it New York's worst mass-transit accident in nearly a century. Some bodies were accidentally counted twice, leading to an initial report by city officials that 14 people were dead.

The crash happened on a windswept afternoon, with gusts over 40 mph and the water in New York Harbor was very choppy.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known, although Bloomberg suggested the heavy wind as a possibility. The National Transportation Safety Board (news - web sites) convened an accident investigation team, which will look at the weather, among other possible factors.

\"It's a terrible tragedy, people who were on the way home, all of a sudden, taken from us,\" Bloomberg said at a dockside news conference.

He said the ferry's crew will be interviewed and tested for drugs and alcohol.

Firefighters picked their way through the debris aboard the ship, the Andrew J. Barberi, looking for victims, and Coast Guard divers searched the water. At least one body was recovered from the water.

\"The ferry was coming too fast,\" said witness William Gonzalez, who lives in a nearby apartment complex. \"They had no control to stop the boat.\"

Commuters were trapped in piles of debris aboard the 22-year-old ferry, and victims screamed and dove for cover as metal crunched into wood just before the start of the evening rush hour, tearing girders and splintering planks.

\"People who were sitting there as the ferry docked were hit by the pilings that came through the side of the boat,\" the mayor said. The pilings hit on the right side of the ferry's main deck, crashing into the windows that ordinarily afford a postcard view of the Statue of Liberty.

\"There were numerous injuries like fractures and lacerations,\" said Fire Department spokeswoman Maria Lamberti. \"There were a couple of people with amputations — legs and arms.\"

Hospital officials said at least three victims had limbs severed in the accident, while others were suffering from massive trauma, back and spinal injuries, chest pains and hypothermia. The water temperature was about 62 degrees.

The ferry pilot, identified as Richard Smith, was undergoing surgery at Staten Island University Hospital, said Dr. Pietro Carpenito. The police source said he was taken to the hospital after someone at his home called 911 about an hour after the accident. He bolted the scene so quickly that he left behind his keys, and was forced to break into his home, the law enforcement source said.

The five-mile trip between Staten Island and Manhattan normally takes 25 minutes. A free ride on the Staten Island Ferry is one of the city's most beloved attractions to New Yorkers and tourists alike, giving visitors a Hollywood-style view of lower Manhattan's skyscrapers.

The seven boats that make up the Staten Island Ferry fleet carry 70,000 commuters a day between Staten Island and lower Manhattan. The boats make 104 daily trips between the two boroughs. The Andrew J. Barberi travels at about 18 mph. The boat holds 6,000 passengers.

Ferry service was halted after the crash, but officials said it would resume for the Thursday morning rush, officials said.

The mayor, who was attending the New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox game with the American League pennant on the line, left Yankee Stadium to head to the scene. He boarded the ferry to assess the damage himself.

Steamboat ferries began operating between Manhattan and Staten Island in 1817. A railroad company ran the ferry from 1884 until 1905, when it was taken over by the city. It is now run by the city Transportation Department. Several accidents have occurred aboard Staten Island ferries over the years.

A boiler explosion on a ferry killed 104 passengers as it was preparing to leave Manhattan for Staten Island in 1871.

In 1997, a car plunged off the ferry as it was docking in Staten Island, causing minor injuries to the driver and a deckhand who was knocked overboard by the car.

In the summer of 1986, a man wielding a sword attacked riders on a ferry, killing two and injuring nine others before he was subdued by a retired police officer.

New York's worst subway accident occurred in 1918, when a train derailed in Brooklyn, killing 92 people.

A New York City subway crash in 1991 killed five people and injured more than 140. Federal investigators blamed the motorman's heavy drinking and lack of sleep.

Associated Press

[The Brain]

Sometimes, Subby, <a href=http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/wabc_101505_ferry11pm.html target=new>it's better to just link to the story</a>. In this case, the link is leading to WABC-7 coverage of the crash.

[JimmyBlueEyes]

I rather liked the history lesson

[The Brain]

New York's worst subway accident occurred in 1918, when a train derailed in Brooklyn, killing 92 people.

Holy shit, please don't let something like this happen again. With as many people using the system these days, a subway derailment might kill hundreds (thousands, perhaps, if it occurred in a major station, and not in a tunnel).

[Subzero316]

Originally posted by The Brain
Sometimes, Subby, it's better to just link to the story.

I'll keep that in mind Brainy.

[JimmyBlueEyes]

Originally posted by The Brain

New York's worst subway accident occurred in 1918, when a train derailed in Brooklyn, killing 92 people.

Holy shit, please don't let something like this happen again. With as many people using the system these days, a subway derailment might kill hundreds (thousands, perhaps, if it occurred in a major station, and not in a tunnel).

It happened about 12-13 yrs ago...4 Train blew thru Union Square and derailed, took out a shitload of pillars. Killed the drunk (or high, I forget) Motorman and like 3-4 people. It was about 9 or 10 at night, but if it had happened say, 4 in the afternoon. Different story. On a side note, people get run over by trains pretty regularly. Just isn't as hyped as it used to be. At least 1 or 2 a month.

The one you refer to in 1918 was on Malbone St. Now known as Empire Blvd. There's stories been going around for years about the Brooklyn Dispatchers office being haunted by the ghosts of those people. Something about it being used as a morgue or something.