Baltimore bridge collapses after ship collision, "Mass Casualty Event"

[Syt]

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-us-canada-68663071?src_origin=BBCS_BBC

Summary

- A bridge in the US city of Baltimore has entirely collapsed into the Patapsco River after being hit by a container ship

- Up to 20 people and several vehicles have fallen into the river, says Baltimore City Fire Department, who are declaring this a "mass casualty event"

- The fire department says a large vessel hit a column of the Francis Scott Key Bridge at around 01:30 ET (05:30 GMT)

- Videos on social media appear to show the bridge entirely descending into the water
A number of casualties have been reported and there is now a large multi-agency rescue and recovery operation under way

- The bridge is 3km (1.6 miles) long and is part of the major 695 highway orbital that encircles Baltimore
The port of Baltimore close to the bridge is the largest in US for specialised cargo

[Syt]

[celedhring]

Oh fuck.

[Grey Fox]

Saw a video, it took 20 seconds from initial hit to the bridge being completely down.

[CountDeMoney]

Yeah, looks like that container ship hit it at substantial speed.  The one video Looks like it had lost power, plowed right into it. There was road work getting done on that bridge, in the middle of the night when traffic is lowest.

Biggest issue for recovery isn't just the debris, the current is obscene;  we'd find jumpers a week or so later, miles away.  Fortunately, the Curtis Bay Coast Guard Yard is just down the road from the bridge, they were able to bring some assets to bear immediately.

One of the busiest ports in North America is shut down indefinitely.

[Syt]

I also understand it's a quite important highway connection?

[CountDeMoney]

Yeah, it's a chunk of the I-695 Baltimore Beltway.  I-95 and 895 have tunnels, but what this impacts more than anything is HAZMAT traffic;  it was built specifically to keep HAZMAT traffic out of the tunnels. 

What a mess.

[Jacob]

That's terrible

[Barrister]

That's just awful.

[Sheilbh]

Yeah - just seen the video which is unbelievable (when I first saw it I actually thought it was maybe from Ukraine/Russia before I realised what it was a video of).

[PRC]

For you fans of the Wire, of which I am one, this is the bridge that features as a marker in season 2.  McNulty uses the bridge location to change the homicide unit that a body's case is assigned to.  Frank Sobotka also meets his fate under it.

[crazy canuck]

Grumbler, how does something like this happen?  Mutiple failures of command and systems?

[viper37]

Grumbler, how does something like this happen?  Mutiple failures of command and systems?

There seems to have been a total power loss on the ship moments before it rammed the bridge.  Apparently, they were able to send a Mayday. They regained power, then lost it again.

Authorities are continuing to search for six people who are unaccounted for after a cargo ship veered off course into a pillar of Baltimore's Key Bridge, causing the bridge to collapse.
Here's a timeline of how the incident unfolded. All times are ET:

• 12:28 a.m.: The DALI container ship unmoors from the port and begins to move, per MarineTraffic data analyzed by CNN.
• 1:24 a.m.: The DALI lights flicker as it travels down Patapsco River, according to video from the scene.
• 1:26 a.m.: The ship begins to change course toward the Key Bridge's pillar, CNN analysis shows.
• 1:26 to 1:27 a.m.: The ships lights continue to flicker on and off, video of the ship shows.
• 1:27 a.m.: The ship hits the Key Bridge, quickly causing it to collapse, the US Coast Guard said. The Coast Guard immediately deploys personnel to the scene.
• 1:40 a.m.: The 911 center dispatches call to Baltimore City Fire Department (BCFD) for reports of water rescue in the Patapsco River, according to Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace. As units were responding, fire officials started receiving calls of multiple people in the water.
• 1:50 a.m.: The first fire unit arrives on the scene and reports a complete collapse of Key Bridge, according to Wallace said. The fire department was given information that there were "likely multiple people on the bridge" and as a result, were now in the water, Wallace said.

[grumbler]

Grumbler, how does something like this happen?  Mutiple failures of command and systems?

My first guess would be that the ship suffered an electrical failure of some sort which disabled the electrical rudder motors, and the crew was untrained in how to switch to alternate rudder power.  I also don't see any indication that the ship was frantically slowing, so it could be that the bridge crew just froze up in the face of catastrophe.  As far as I know, the ship would have had a harbor pilot on board, so it might be that the crew is not entirely to blame.

[Maladict]

I also don't see any indication that the ship was frantically slowing

What about that big plume of smoke inbetween the blackouts? Could that indicate an emergency reverse?