Did Post 9/11 Regulations Contribute to Ferry Crash?

[dreissig]

Here's a theory of what might have happened aboard the Staten Island ferry on Wednesday afternoon. The pilot, alone in the cabin, nodded off, and the radar which normally would wake him up, failed to detect the buildings on shore because he was blown off course by strong winds. Seeing the pier at the last minute, the pilot tried to avoid the collision by turning hard to starboard and giving it full throttle. However, the momentum pulled the boat into the pilings, which smashed through the windows and crushed everything in their path.

Since September 11th, access to the pilot house is limited to those people who have reason to be there. Locks have been added, and staircases leading to the pilot house have been fenced off. It's possible that the reason that the pilot nodded off is that anybody who might have kept him alert in the pilot house wasn't allowed to be there.

It's not astonishing that pilots of large vessels might fall asleep on a warm, sunny afternoon - lots of drivers do that. Perhaps pilots rely too much on radar to warn them of an imminent collision. But the heightened security after September 11th may have had the paradoxical result of decreased security. The pilot was protected from terrorist hijackers, but left alone in the pilot house, he fell asleep and ran the boat into a pier.

[brainshrub]

1. Interesting Theory

But I would think yelling at behind the locked door would wake up the pilot up.

[dreissig]

2. Sounds Right to Me

Makes sense to me that Smith didn't wake up until he heard passengers pounding on the door. By then the boat had passed the point of no return, and was going to hit the pier anyhow. But turning the boat and giving it full throttle probably caused more damage than letting it hit nose first into the pier. The deaths were caused by pilings entering the cabin and crushing everything in their path.

[RamboLiberal]

3. The captain was supposed to be in the pilot house as well

that's the crux of why this collision wasn't prevented - where was he?
So don't blame 9-11 on this - better that civilians are not in the pilot house distracting them. Remember what happened to the sub where they were distracted by big shots in the control room and surfaced right under a Japanese fishing boat?

I have read reports that there was also supposed to be a third crewmemeber there as well ever since they got sued for a previous accident back in the early 90's.

City procedures require both men to be there when the ferry is moving, but investigators say they have received conflicting reports as to the captain’s whereabouts.

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/breaking_news/story/127849p-114402c.html

[MrPrax]

4. Hmm...good but a stretch

I heard tell that the fellow nodded off due to high blood pressure and his failure to take his medication.
Probably 'spin' of course to isolate the blame on the individual and not the system itself...
But I think you are right for calling into question all possible explanations..
Indeed with the Exxon Valdez...Huberty was blamed immediately--NOT the lack of the double haul, inappropriate routing, recent reduced ship staffs or the longer schedules for personnel...

[dreissig]

5. Nodding Off

Richard Smith was not the captain, he was the assistant captain. The real captain, Michael Gansas, was not in the pilot house at the time of the crash, he was at the Manhattan end of the boat. Regulations requiring two people in the pilot house were clearly violated.

The only way Gansas can save his own ass now is to convince the NTSB that he was in the pilot house. He'll have to come up with some lame story, which nobody will believe, but it might enable his lawyer to finagle a deal to let him keep his pension. Even that seems unlikely, given the City's motivation to limit its own liability.

It's obvious that Smith was alone. Anyone in the pilot house would have taken control over the vessel. The only mystery here is why nobody from the crew saw the danger until it was too late.