[NYC4Life]

Updated 5:21 PM
Mechanical Failure Causes S.I. Ferry Crash, 35 Injured
By: NY1 News

The Department of Transportation says a Staten Island Ferry boat involved with a fatal 2003 crash had a mechanical problem and crashed into a dock at the St. George Ferry Terminal this morning, and fire officials say at least 35 people were injured.

The throttle on the Andrew J. Barberi ferry failed, so the boat did not slow down as it hit the Staten Island dock at a speed of five knots about 9:25 a.m., according to DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.

Of the 252 passengers and 18 crew members aboard the boat, 33 people were transported to area hospitals, and only one was critically injured and experienced chest pains, according to Sadik-Khan.

The commissioner called the incident a "hard landing" and said most injuries were only minor cuts and bruises. Fire officials said no injuries were life-threatening.



The boat's hull was also breached in two parts above the water line and it did not take on water. It was initially wedged into the dock but by mid-afternoon it was finally tugged away from the site of impact.

Sadik-Khan said that the ferry's crew was highly trained and the captain was new to the ferry but "experienced." She said the ferry was at a normal speed and sounded several warning sirens.

"It appears to be a mechanical problem, there was not an ability to pull back the throttle as it approached the dock," said Sadik-Khan.

Passengers told NY1 there were no announcements made on the boat's speaker system at the time, but ferry officials said crew members took a minute to tell passengers to move away from the area of impact.

"Everybody had this frozen look at each other like, 'what's going to happen?' Because this isn't how we're supposed to dock. We're speeding instead of slowing," said Bronx resident Alex Gonzalez, who was on the boat at the time. "It rammed right into the ramp to get off and pushed the whole ramp back, and then a big cloud of smoke just resonated.... It was so hard, it threw you back."

"My husband heard them say over the intercom, 'red, red, red,' so we knew something was going to happen. And then when the workers came out and said, 'Sit still, don't move!'" said another passenger. "So we kind of braced ourselves, and then that's when it crashed into the dock."

"The boat was coming full force, it didn't stop. You heard a horn and then a 'Bam,'" said a woman who was waiting at the ferry terminal. "Everybody inside the terminal took off running outside the terminal, thinking that the boat was coming were we were. So we were extremely afraid."

DOT officials said the boat never lost power.


A ferry passenger took this picture of firemen helping one of the injured on the ferry.

Emergency medical technicians arrived five minutes later, laid some of the injured out on stretchers and wheelchairs and gave some passengers oxygen.

"There were a lot of people that were taken off on gurneys and stretchers, and it took about 10 to 15 minutes before they let the people that were able to walk off [the boat]. So it was chaos in there," said Gonzalez.

"It puts you in the mind of 9/11, when you see them carried off the boat on stretchers," said a woman who saw the injured loaded into the terminal.

Local doctors were glad most injuries were minor but they recalled the fatalities and major injuries resulting from the 2003 crash.

Governor David Paterson said the prior crash and recent security scares in Times Square have set city residents on edge.

"Probably the alert that the passengers got seconds before impact may have avoided real injury or something far more serious. So it's kind of another scare like we've been going through a lot in New York City, and we are blessed because we are not bemoaning the situation, but we'll take every step to make sure it doesn't happen again," said Paterson, who urged New Yorkers to resume taking the ferry.



Congressman Michael McMahon praised the response efforts, but said he would also conduct a full investigation into the crash.

"The captain acted appropriately, the NYPD, the FDNY, the EMS, they are down here doing there job that makes all New Yorkers proud. But these types of incidents like this should not happen," said McMahon. "The Staten Island Ferry is the lifeblood for the people of Staten Island, and the folks on it today deserve to be safe and to be guaranteed that safety."

"The quick response of the crew that moved the people back. Anyone that rides the ferry knows, people like to stand right in front in watch. They moved them back far enough so that no one was thrown into the water," said Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro.

DOT officials said the current incident is unrelated to the Andrew J. Barberi's prior crash on October 15, 2003, which killed 11 people and injured more than 50 others.

In the 2003 incident, the ferry's pilot, Richard Smith, lost consciousness while at the ship's controls. Smith pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

"To preface the 2003 incident is irrelevant. That's has all been out in the press, there have been [National Transportation Safety Board] reports, and there's nothing to do with this," said S.I. Ferry Chief Operating Officer James DeSimone. "You make 110 trips a day, you have a fleet of ferries, so that's really got nothing to do with this."

The U.S. Coast Guard and the DOT are still in the early stages of investigating today's crash. Authorities will look at surveillance video from the ferry and the terminal to help their investigation.

Normal ferry service has now resumed and only two morning boats were delayed in the St. George and Whitehall terminals.

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