Turbulent Waters May Have Contributed To Mexican Tall Ship's Crash Into Brooklyn Bridge

Footage of a tall ship crashing into the Brooklyn Bridge shows the vessel hurtling into the span in reverse at full speed, suggesting the captain lost control of the engine.

When a Mexican navy tall ship crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge, it was maneuvering in turbulent waters. The tide had just turned, and a fast current was heading up the East River as a 10 mph wind set in.

While such hazards are easily handled by an experienced captain, mistakes can be costly in the heavily transited New York harbor, where narrow, curvy channels, winds howling off the jagged Manhattan skyline and whirlpool-like eddies can combine to make for difficult passage.

In the case of the 300-foot (90-meter) Cuauhtemoc, two sailors were killed and 19 were injured Saturday evening when the training ship struck the iconic bridge, toppling the vessel’s three masts like dominoes as it drifted toward a crowded pier. It’s unknown what caused the collision, and an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board is likely to take months.

But footage of the collision shot by horrified onlookers show the ship hurtling into the bridge in reverse at full speed, suggesting the captain lost control of the engine. There are also questions about whether a tugboat escort peeled away too soon and should have been rigged to the ship or stayed with it until it headed out to sea. Similar tugboat concerns emerged when a large cargo vessel crashed into a bridge in Baltimore last year.

Sal Mercogliano, a former merchant mariner who has powered multiple ships through the New York harbor, said all those “worst-case scenarios” — the ship’s height, a strong current, heavy wind and the absence of a more controlled tugboat escort — all contributed to the tragedy.