Quicksand Fans

Original Article

Incident photos

Something doesnt compute looking at his AIS track; they say he was leaving port, but the track indicates the opposite. And with a pair of tugs on, even if they had problems and had to make an emergency tieup, why there? That be like making an emergency landing , and then crashing into the control tower.

kham wrote:Original Article

Incident photos

Something doesnt compute looking at his AIS track; they say he was leaving port, but the track indicates the opposite. And with a pair of tugs on, even if they had problems and had to make an emergency tieup, why there? That be like making an emergency landing , and then crashing into the control tower.

If I read the track right (movement from left to right), he started inside the breakwater. Check out the port from Google Maps (Satellite).

He may have left one berth, but what happened that he makes a 100-degree+ turn into the INNER basin there, where numerous small craft wharfs and the tower are located? Word is it was some sort of engine failure. Makes even less sense. AND, not just the tower, he wiped out that entire building. If this had happened in daytime, you be looking at more than just 7 dead

Yea, something went horribly wrong.

There was an episode a few years ago where a salty lost power going up the Mississippi. Apparently a low oil pressure sensor tripped and shut down the engine. It drifted downstream and smashed into the Riverfront complex adjacent to the French Quarter. But that was with a significant current. How these guys managed to go so wrong just now is going to be interesting.

If you want to see an AIS-live example of an utter complete fuck-up, google Mel Oliver Collision on youtube; a tug and barge left its dock in the Mississippi/New Orleans VTS Sector, and cut right in front of downbound traffic. Without Permission. Without comms. Without its CAPTAIN. Without telling anyone aboard. it doesnt have a happy ending, predictably....

dlodoski wrote:Yea, something went horribly wrong.

There was an episode a few years ago where a salty lost power going up the Mississippi. Apparently a low oil pressure sensor tripped and shut down the engine. It drifted downstream and smashed into the Riverfront complex adjacent to the French Quarter. But that was with a significant current. How these guys managed to go so wrong just now is going to be interesting.

Shut down the steering engine if I remember right. It smacked into the River Walk and plowed up the Jackson Brewery Mall. I thought about it as soon as I heard about the accident in Italy.

Great video - http://youtu.be/o1vAqkdPlTk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQo14yDEWgU

Don't speak Italian but you get the general idea. Looks like somebody pushed when they should've pulled.
Is it just me or is that a really bad place to park a large concrete column? Just makes me think of a stop sign by my house that trucks are constantly running over.