CITY MISSED BOAT ON SAFETY RULE

New York Post ^ | November 9, 2003 | BRAD HAMILTON

[OESY]

Ten current and former Staten Island Ferry workers say last Monday was the first time the city ever notified them of a rule requiring the captain, rather than the assistant captain, to be in the dockside pilothouse every time the boat lands - a rule the city says Capt. Michael Gansas broke during the fatal ferry crash two weeks earlier.

[OESY]

Mrs. Schumer (a.k.a. DOT Commissioner Iris Weinshall) has been caught in a lie.

Neither Senators Schumer nor Clinton have called for an investigation.

[jdege]

It's absurd.

The captain should be at whatever place he judges he can best oversee whatever is the most critical activity going on.

That is almost certainly not the wheelhouse.

[jimtorr]

The question of who may or may not have seen the SOP is not relevant. The captain is always responsible for everything.

The question that is relevant is, why did the ferry ram the dock, and why didn't the captain stop it?

[Howie]

It's my understanding that the same thing happened before with the same dude at the helm. The accepted excuse was "the props failed to reverse".

This sounds phony as heck to me. It is indicative of a coverup for a physical condition or gross ineptitude on the part of the pilot.

[ForGod'sSake]

Mrs. Schumer (a.k.a. DOT Commissioner Iris Weinshall) has been caught in a lie.

CYA Mrs. Schumer! From all accounts the captain was using SOP.

A curious item from a companion story:

He[Gansas] got hired by the Staten Island ferry in 1990 and recently was promoted to captain after having trained under Assistant Captain Richard Smith and others.

There wouldn't be any animosity from the asst. captain by chance???

FGS

[Cicero]

The captain is always responsible for the safety of his vessel. I thought at the time of the crash that he should have been in the wheelhouse and taken over when it became obvious that the helmsman was incapable of handling the boat.

What I get from this article, is that presumably these ferries have a wheelhouse at both ends of the ferry, and that one officer stays at one end and the other officer at the other end. "The workers . . . said it was standard practice for the assistant captain and captain to stay in opposite ends of the boat, with one handling dockings in Staten Island and the other in Manhattan."

What that says to me is: Sheer laziness. They can't be bothered to leave the wheelhouse and walk to the other end of the boat after each crossing. Too much like hard work.

It's pretty scary to think that this is general practice.

[KC_for_Freedom]

What that says to me is: Sheer laziness. They can't be bothered to leave the wheelhouse and walk to the other end of the boat after each crossing. Too much like hard work.

Usually when people die as a result of an accident, there are several lapses in safety. In this case laziness appears to fall into this category. I would also suspect that some technology that could have helped here was not been purchased for financial reasons. I can see designed navigation systems with gps and short range radar that could ease the ship in without the crew's active control if someone wanted it. At the very least, a system could be developed to warn of a bad landing.

[_Jim]

Ten former and current ferry workers, ranging from captain to deckhand, told The Post the city never gave them documents requiring the captain to be in the pilothouse on the docking end of the boat.

I wonder if there are any signatures on documents on file showing where they accepted possession of a copy of said 'rules and regulations' when they were hired on ...