Cargo Ship strikes Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge causing great collapse

[Flamma]

Watching the video of few minutes before the crash, looks like some people lucked out. There were several cars driving over the bridge just before the crash. You can see their headlights as they drive over it. Looks like the construction trucks were the ones still on it when it collapsed. Boy, imagine that. Finding out that just 60 seconds after you passed, the whole thing went down.

I saw a video that had some audio. They managed to close the bridge to all traffic about 30-45 seconds before it collapsed. But it also said 13 construction workers went into the water.

 

[triplets_93]

 

[Flamma]

If you go to the 5:16 mark in this video, it has banter back and forth with police and what they are doing up until about 10 minutes. At around the 9:30 or 9:40 mark they say a possible 13 construction workers are in the water. What I don't understand is why didn't they radio them to get off the bridge?

 

[Montanalo]

I wonder if dropping an anchor to slow or stop the vessel was considered and, if not, why not? Worried about pivoting into an even more worse angle?

 

[triplets_93]

Maritime expert Sal Mercogliano, host of the What's Going on With Shipping YouTube channel, joins Ward Carroll to provide in-depth analysis about what caused the MV Dali to hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge at the mouth of the Baltimore Harbor early in the morning of March 26, 2024.

 

[1942willys]

If you go to the 5:16 mark in this video, it has banter back and forth with police and what they are doing up until about 10 minutes. At around the 9:30 or 9:40 mark they say a possible 13 construction workers are in the water. What I don't understand is why didn't they radio them to get off the bridge?

Part of the investigation sounds like it should concentrate on the LACK of response by emergency officials to the impending threat.
Is this another case where there was sufficient warning and those in charge blew the call?

 

[triplets_93]

National Transportation Safety Board officials boarded the ship to recover information from its electronics and paperwork and to interview the captain and other crew members, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said during a separate news conference. Twenty-three people, including two pilots, were on the ship when it crashed, she said.

https://apnews.com/article/baltimore-key-bridge-collapse-03-27-2024-6a95340e5daeff6551fc999d23feb278

The vessel was also carrying 56 containers of hazardous materials including corrosives, flammables and lithium ion batteries, Homendy said. She added that some containers were breached, and that a sheen on the water from those materials would be handled by authorities.

Marcel Muise, NTSB investigator in charge, laid out a preliminary timeline assembled from the voyage data recorder comprising audio from the bridge and VHF radio ahead of the crash, which federal and state officials have said appeared to be an accident.

The vessel, the Dali, left port at 12:39 a.m. Tuesday and, after it entered the channel, signs of trouble came at about 1:25 a.m. when numerous alarms sounded, according to the NTSB. About a minute later, steering commands and rudder orders were issued, and at 1:26 a.m. and 39 seconds, a pilot made a general radio call for nearby tug boats.

Maryland Transportation Authority data from about the same time shows the pilot association dispatcher called the transportation authority’s officer on duty about the blackout, the NTSB said.

Just after 1:27 a.m., the pilot commanded the ship to drop an anchor on the left side of the ship and issued added steering commands. About 20 seconds later, the pilot issued a radio call reporting that the Dali had lost all power approaching the bridge.

At about that time, the state transportation officer on duty radioed two of its units already stationed at each end of the bridge saying to close the bridge to vehicle traffic. They were already there because of the construction.

Around 1:29 a.m., when the ship was traveling at about 8 mph (13 kph), recordings for about 30 seconds picked up sounds consistent with it colliding with the bridge, the NTSB said. A Transportation Authority dash camera also shows lights on the bridge going out.

At 1:29 a.m. and 39 seconds, the pilot reported to the Coast Guard that the bridge was down.

Muise said experts will review the entire voyage data recording and develop a detailed transcript.

At least eight people initially went into the water when the ship struck the bridge column, and two of them were rescued Tuesday, officials said.

 

[Flamma]

Part of the investigation sounds like it should concentrate on the LACK of response by emergency officials to the impending threat.
Is this another case where there was sufficient warning and those in charge blew the call?

I don't think anyone blew the call. Police managed to close the roadway both north and south before the bridge collapsed. But the maintenance vehicles never got off. Probably because they were never told to get off. That's what puzzles me.

 

[Montanalo]

I wonder if dropping an anchor to slow or stop the vessel was considered and, if not, why not? Worried about pivoting into an even more worse angle?

I see from the post below, the vessel did drop anchor

 

[Roadtrip635]

National Transportation Safety Board officials boarded the ship to recover information from its electronics and paperwork and to interview the captain and other crew members, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said during a separate news conference. Twenty-three people, including two pilots, were on the ship when it crashed, she said.

https://apnews.com/article/baltimore-key-bridge-collapse-03-27-2024-6a95340e5daeff6551fc999d23feb278

The vessel was also carrying 56 containers of hazardous materials including corrosives, flammables and lithium ion batteries, Homendy said. She added that some containers were breached, and that a sheen on the water from those materials would be handled by authorities.

Marcel Muise, NTSB investigator in charge, laid out a preliminary timeline assembled from the voyage data recorder comprising audio from the bridge and VHF radio ahead of the crash, which federal and state officials have said appeared to be an accident.

The vessel, the Dali, left port at 12:39 a.m. Tuesday and, after it entered the channel, signs of trouble came at about 1:25 a.m. when numerous alarms sounded, according to the NTSB. About a minute later, steering commands and rudder orders were issued, and at 1:26 a.m. and 39 seconds, a pilot made a general radio call for nearby tug boats.

Maryland Transportation Authority data from about the same time shows the pilot association dispatcher called the transportation authority’s officer on duty about the blackout, the NTSB said.

Just after 1:27 a.m., the pilot commanded the ship to drop an anchor on the left side of the ship and issued added steering commands. About 20 seconds later, the pilot issued a radio call reporting that the Dali had lost all power approaching the bridge.

At about that time, the state transportation officer on duty radioed two of its units already stationed at each end of the bridge saying to close the bridge to vehicle traffic. They were already there because of the construction.

Around 1:29 a.m., when the ship was traveling at about 8 mph (13 kph), recordings for about 30 seconds picked up sounds consistent with it colliding with the bridge, the NTSB said. A Transportation Authority dash camera also shows lights on the bridge going out.

At 1:29 a.m. and 39 seconds, the pilot reported to the Coast Guard that the bridge was down.

Muise said experts will review the entire voyage data recording and develop a detailed transcript.

At least eight people initially went into the water when the ship struck the bridge column, and two of them were rescued Tuesday, officials said.

So from the very first signs of trouble to the bridge completely down was around 4 and half minutes, that's not much time at all. It could have been so much worse if this had been a different part of the day.

 

[VaqueroTD]

The newest and biggest container vessels are bigger than the USS Ford by quite a bit.

Not surprised. Back when the documentary channels used to show documentaries, there was one in particular I used to love on TLC or History Channel. Each episode was about the largest vehicles, ships, airplanes, etc... Truly impressive that we've managed to build some of these giants.

 

[1942willys]

I don't think anyone blew the call. Police managed to close the roadway both north and south before the bridge collapsed. But the maintenance vehicles never got off. Probably because they were never told to get off. That's what puzzles me.

Yeah that is the area that is going to be looked at; the minute the police ordered the bridge closed they should have been told to get off of it. Were they?

 

[1942willys]

I see from the post below, the vessel did drop anchor

gave the order but did it happen? was it something else that could only be done by electrical or electronics that were dead?
not that it likely mattered as they only had two minutes. What they need is a deadman switch so that if the power goes off the anchor drops right away. That might help.

 

[RoboQB]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think this was an accident.
I know the board frowns on us "conspiracy theorists".

Side note: the Baltimore mayor is an absolute clown.
Dude wants everyone to "stop posting video" of the incident. He's a ridiculous little man.

 

[Flamma]

Yeah that is the area that is going to be looked at; the minute the police ordered the bridge closed they should have been told to get off of it. Were they?

I know they have radios that can communicate with police. My best guess is that they were all out of their vehicles and couldn't hear the radio. Especially if a jackhammer was in use.

 

[Flamma]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think this was an accident.
I know the board frowns on us "conspiracy theorists".

Side note: the Baltimore mayor is an absolute clown.
Dude wants everyone to "stop posting video" of the incident. He's a ridiculous little man.

I actually love conspiracies. On the flip side, I think people are way too trusting in everything they're told. That said, what about this doesn't look accidental? This looks too clean. I know some pointed to the mini eruptions of flame at several points at the top of the bridge as it was collapsing, which can be seen in videos already posted here. But that most likely has to do with electrical wiring being ripped apart. Arcs.

 

[sbark]

Tug boats got them underway, but then left. Need to have stayed with longer, especially since that ship had several engine stoppages recently.

 

[1942willys]

Tug boats got them underway, but then left. Need to have stayed with longer, especially since that ship had several engine stoppages recently.

That might be the biggest thing of all; this ship had had problems recently; but no one worried about it and where it was going.

 

[VaqueroTD]

I'm all for a good conspiracy theory as long as it isn't a direct smack in the face to victims and families of the incident like the Sandy Hook incident for example.

I've gone down the conspiracy rabbit hole on this a bit, but struggle to find a motive that makes sense. It clearly wasn't meant to be a mass casualty event as police had time to at least minimize the loss of life, and this was done at a time when traffic would be at a minimum. I've heard theories that this bridge was along a route the military has used to get supplies to Ukraine via boat, but I don't understand how collapsing a section of bridge shuts down the water travel, especially for the military. I've heard it's just a flex by a foreign government to show the US they can hack into these ships or planes anytime they want, which does sound somewhat realistic. Or my favorite is that it's the Obamas because....well no one really knows but they made that movie.

IMO, one of the unfortunate side effects of the internet and social media age. Everything has a voice for a conspiracy now, no matter how out there.

 

[VaqueroTD]

Yeah it's a double edged sword. There have been plenty of conspiracy theories out there that have turned out to be true, and give us legitimate reason to question some of these events, but the flip side of that all you really need is a 45 second Tiktok video, some creepy music in the background, and a few half truths to share and the internet will run with it.

We blame the technology, but the real problem is people. Most refuse to do the research on the theories they share, buy in too easily, and once they've made up people wont admit they were ever wrong.

The people were always there, they just had to settle for second-hand publishing, leaflets and small conventions. The technology has made it so anyone can have a voice.