I'd guess since it's a toll bridge there's built-in access control at the toll booths. They say the boat made a mayday call. It's not too far fetched that there would be a procedure to halt bridge traffic at the toll booths upon any mayday call nearby, and it wouldn't take really more than a moment to just freeze the toll gates. It would account for there being a handful of cars still on it, those that had cleared the tolls but not completed the crossing in that time.
To your other point though, I still think there's probably a lot of negligence on the part of the boat captain and operators. I've flown planes, and both planning and emergency procedure is drilled in to you as part of training. Yet when you review crash outcomes, the ones that go bad don't identify it's a bad problem until it's too late. I suspect there had been control issues prior and they trudged on rather than aborting, dropping anchor to figure it out, calling for tugboats to assist, etc.
I'm also curious how a giant ship is ever in a position such that a loss of power will cause it to crash in a bridge within the next 30 seconds. 30 seconds! The procedure for leaving a harbor should never involve putting such a slow to maneuver craft in a position where 30 seconds is the difference between a collapsed bridge and a successful trip.
Ok that makes sense. I haven't driven through Baltimore in a few decades, so I couldn't remember if it was a toll bridge.
I agree that there was absolutely some gross negligence happening somewhere in the chain. This one will be fascinating to find out what happened when it all comes out.
I'd guess since it's a toll bridge there's built-in access control at the toll booths. They say the boat made a mayday call. It's not too far fetched that there would be a procedure to halt bridge traffic at the toll booths upon any mayday call nearby, and it wouldn't take really more than a moment to just freeze the toll gates. It would account for there being a handful of cars still on it, those that had cleared the tolls but not completed the crossing in that time.
To your other point though, I still think there's probably a lot of negligence on the part of the boat captain and operators. I've flown planes, and both planning and emergency procedure is drilled in to you as part of training. Yet when you review crash outcomes, the ones that go bad don't identify it's a bad problem until it's too late. I suspect there had been control issues prior and they trudged on rather than aborting, dropping anchor to figure it out, calling for tugboats to assist, etc.
I'm also curious how a giant ship is ever in a position such that a loss of power will cause it to crash in a bridge within the next 30 seconds. 30 seconds! The procedure for leaving a harbor should never involve putting such a slow to maneuver craft in a position where 30 seconds is the difference between a collapsed bridge and a successful trip.
Ok that makes sense. I haven't driven through Baltimore in a few decades, so I couldn't remember if it was a toll bridge.
I agree that there was absolutely some gross negligence happening somewhere in the chain. This one will be fascinating to find out what happened when it all comes out.