It doesn’t seem that terrorism, sabotage or any intentional criminal act was responsible for the Staten Island ferry crash that injured 37 people on Saturday morning.
The National Transportation Safety Board is continuing its investigation into the accident. The agency has conducted interviews with several crewmembers, the captain and assistant captain. From these interviews, it appears that the crew was trying to slow the vessel down when the four engines suddenly turned off. The NTSB is looking at this issue closer to understand the reasons for the crash.
Several passengers were thrown to the deck and 37 were confirmed to have suffered injuries, when the ferry Andrew J. Barberie crashed into a dock. Passengers on the deck who noticed that the ferry was going much too fast to avoid the dock, braced themselves for impact,
This was the same ferry that had been involved in a tragic ferry accident in 2003. 11 people had been killed in that accident, which had been blamed on the pilot passing out at the wheel, causing the boat to hit a terminal at full speed. After that accident, the Andrew J. Barberi underwent a major overhaul before being put back into service. However, this most recent accident has left the boat with severe damage, and it will soon be put out of service.
On July 1, 2009, another Staten Island ferry crashed into a pier at the St. George terminal. More than a dozen passengers were injured in that accident, which was ultimately blamed on a mechanical malfunction.
For the passengers who use these ferries as their main means of transportation every day, there’s no other choice but to continue to use these vessels, in spite of their fears about accidents.
The maritime injury lawyers at Maintenance and Cure represent injured victims of ferry accidents, offshore and oil rig accidents, commercial fishing vessel and cruise line accidents, and other maritime accidents across Texas and nationwide.
