Mexican navy ship departed less than 5 minutes before crashing into Brooklyn Bridge, NTSB says
NEW YORK -- The National Transportation Safety Board provided new details after a 300-foot Mexican navy training ship crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge over the weekend.
During a Monday afternoon news conference, NTSB officials said the ship's intent was to head down the East River and out to sea after being docked portside at Pier 17.
VIDEO: NTSB holds news conference on crash into Brooklyn Bridge
The ship, known as Cuauhtémoc, moved at 2-3 knots upon leaving the pier with the assistance of a tugboat on Saturday. The current of the East River ultimately carried the ship north, and the Cuauhtémoc eventually collided with the bridge, toppling its three masts all within the span of less than five minutes.
Less than a minute before the Cuauhtemoc training vessel sped backward into the bridge, a radio call went out asking for help from any additional tugboats in the area.
Brian Young, the National Transportation Safety Board's chief investigator of the deadly crash, said the ship had reached 6 knots by the time is struck the bridge, which is roughly 6.9 mph (11.1 Kilometers per hour). The call, asking for assistance from other nearby tugboats, was made approximately 45 seconds before the crash.
Officials didn't say where the call asking for assistance from other boats came from.
Crowds watched in horror Saturday night when the Mexican Navy ship crashed into the bridge.
The crash left two people dead and injured several others on the ship. No one on the bridge was injured.
Mexican authorities have now said the two victims were young naval cadets training on the ship.
The people who perished have been identified as América Yamilet Sánchez and Adal Jair Marcos. Many have been paying tribute to the lives lost, as this painful tragedy sinks in.
"It's illogical," said a young man and relative of one of the victims. "What happened there is illogical. There must be someone responsible."
While the underside of the Brooklyn Bridge bore the brunt of the impact, officials found no significant damage to the bridge from the mast strike, according to NTSB Board Member Michael Graham.
The NTSB in the meantime has not yet been granted access to the ship by the Mexican government, and so investigators currently do not know the extent of damage or if there are voice recorders.
"We are currently working with our counterparts with the Mexican government to gain access to the ship. We are optimistic that we will have that access very soon," Graham said.
NTSB officials have also not had the chance to conduct interviews yet in their investigation, but among those they are looking to talk to include the tugboat pilot, the harbor pilot, the ship's captain and crew members.
As part of their investigation, the NTSB says it plans to look at the status of the engine for any failures, talk to the ship's crew and collect any electronic evidence that may help in understanding what led up to the collision. The NTSB says it will also look at the role of the tug boat, including its policies and procedures for the operation once helping the ship get off the pier.
Ahead of the news conference, NTSB officials on scene observed a crew working on the mast of the ship, which is now docked at Pier 36.
"They need to secure the mast up there, since some of it is broken off and it's entangled in the lines, so those are obviously going to have to be secured before the ship is moved so that doesn't create another hazard," Graham said.
Meanwhile, many crew members on the tall ship have flown home from New York, officials said Monday.
Seven officers and 172 cadets who were aboard the Cuauhtemoc arrived early Monday at the port of Veracruz, where Mexico's naval school is, the Mexican navy said in a post on X. Two cadets remained in New York getting medical treatment. They were in stable condition, the navy said.
The Cuauhtémoc is used by the Mexican Navy to train its finest cadets. It left the South Street Seaport on Saturday night after three days here in New York-the crewmembers, in ceremonial formation atop the ship's rigging.
The ship had been scheduled to visit 22 ports in 15 nations, including Kingston, Jamaica; Havana, Cuba; Cozumel, Mexico; and New York.
It also had planned to go to Reykjavik, Iceland; Bordeaux, Saint Malo and Dunkirk, France; and Aberdeen, Scotland, among others, for a total of 254 days, 170 of them at sea.
ABC7NY, The Associated Press and ABC News contributed to this report.
