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Bridge Collapse in Baltimore - Mass Casualty Event


Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed early Tuesday morning (March 26) around 1:30 am local time when apparently struck by a container vessel. Below is a video of the disaster.

When I watch, it appears to portray first responder vehicles with emergency lights stopped on the right side of bridge as if they anticipated a collision was impending. But you can still see a handful of vehicles crossing moments before the collision occurred. It looks like the ship has engine power with smoke billowing from the stacks but the ship goes completely dark and then lights back up just before the impact. It seems to steer right into the bridge support. Reports are saying multiple vehicles plummeted hundreds of feet into the river below but it looks like the bridge was relatively empty when it actually fell.

https://youtu.be/iqipWZMo4zk?si=sc7QkEONYwyq7Yqg

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They're saying that the power failed at a key point prior to the ship reaching the bridge, leaving the ship with no navigational control. The bridge's code was for an era before these super-loaded container ships would be plying the course through.

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You'd think they could have it to override the rudder when the power goes out so this kind of thing wouldn't happen and they would have designed the bridge to withstand earthquakes.

Oh well.
Humans are not perfect and ship happens.

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How do you override a rudder without power?

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Have it be manuel, like on a sailboat, if the power shuts off.

Can they do this for big ships?

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For a ship that size it would take at least twenty men many seconds to manually crank its rudder hard over.

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What?
They never heard of, "power steering?"
LOL

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Clue is in the term "loss of power".

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I know but you'd think that if they can put a man on the moon....

'Course I dunno nuffin about no physics or engineering of big ship steering though if they can make a pocket computer then you'd think they could make it so big ships would avoid collisions should the power go out with easy steering.

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There is nothing easy about steering 90000 tons.

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The implication, given the revealed (catastrophic) vulnerability is that these container ships, and transport vessels, in general, are going to require retro-fitting w/ auxiliary/back-up power systems for navigational control.

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NTSB press conference due to begin at any moment.

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