The research on why a Mexican Navy school ship crashed on Saturday against the Brooklyn bridge, breaking the upper part of its masts, will analyze a possible engine failure and the role of a tugboat that helped him withdraw from his jetty, authorities said authorities on Monday.
The National Board of Transportation Security (NTSB) will focus on the ship’s engine, said Brian Young, who directs the investigation.
“We will examine the engine status, we will look for any failure, we will carry out engine inspections and talk to the crew about what may have happened with the engine,” said Young in a preliminary informative session of the NTSB, in which he added that the researchers would also collect any electronic control data.
The accident occurred when the majestic ship Blanco Cuauhtémoc’s school departed from pier 17 of Bajo Manhattan, in the East River, shortly after the sunset on Saturday.
The scheduled route of the ship was south, moving away from the Brooklyn bridge and in the direction of the port of New York and its next destination in Iceland.
Lee: Authorities received 3 calls for assistance from the Cuauhtémoc ship 4 minutes after sailing
Upon leaving the dock, the ship was accompanied by a Mcallister Towing tug.
Minutes later, its three masts of 44.8 meters hit the lower part of the emblematic 142 -year -old bridge, causing its partial collapse.
The coup knotted dozens of uniformed cadets of white from the ship’s crossbars, where they were ceremoniously standing for their exit from the port. They could be seen hanging from their harnesses at high height of the ship’s cover.
Two people died on board, a cadet and a sailor, and about 20 were injured, two of them seriously.
Salvatore R. Mercliano, maritime historian of the University of Campbell, said that apparently the cause of the accident was an engine failure.
“Without the motor failure, the ship would have diverted to the bridge, but it would not have hit it at full speed,” said Mercoglian. “The engine failure caused the ship to collide with the bridge. And it is not very clear what the tugboat could have done to avoid it.”
The videos published on the Internet showed how the tugboat first pushed the bow of the ship and then separated from it as the ship approached the bridge. He then seemed to pounce towards the stern as if he intended to prevent the ship from colliding with the bridge.
After collapsing the masts, the ship continued to sail under the bridge until it stopped in a embankment of the Brooklyn shore, they showed the videos.
Lee: Sheinbaum reports that two cadets are still hospitalized in NY after collision of the Cuauhtémoc ship
Michael Graham, a member of the NTSB Board, said the Board had not yet made any interrogation and that it intended to speak with the tug -in pilot, the Port Practical, the ship’s captain and other crew members.
“We will examine three main aspects: the crew and its performance, the ship and its state and, finally, the environment, which includes the weather, the wind, the current, the tide and the operational environment,” Graham explained.
Researchers are asking the public for more videos from the incident and have not yet determined whether the Mexican Navy ship had a device to register data.
With Reuters information
Little text and great information in our X (formerly Twitter), follow us!
