The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced on Tuesday that the deadly collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, 2024, was caused by a “single loose wire” that triggered an “electrical blackout” and resulted in the Dali cargo ship colliding with the bridge.
In a Tuesday press release, the NTSB said, “A single loose wire on the 984-foot-long containership Dali caused an electrical blackout that led to the giant vessel veering and contacting the nearby Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, which then collapsed, killing six highway workers.”
The NTSB explained that investigators pointed to a loose wire in the Dali’s electrical system, which resulted in a breaker “unexpectedly” opening prior to the ship experiencing an electrical blackout and a loss of steering and propulsion.
“The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the contact of the container ship Dali with the Francis Scott Key Bridge was a loss of electrical power blackout due to a loose signal wire connection to a terminal block stemming from the improper installation of wireless label banding,” the NTSB added.
The NTSB’s report claimed that the Maryland Transportation Authority was “likely unaware of the potential risk” of the damage a potential vessel collision could cause despite the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials recommending that states conduct vulnerability assessments.
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The report indicated that one of the contributing factors in the deadly incident “was the lack of countermeasures to reduce the bridge’s vulnerability to collapse due to impact by oceangoing vessels, which could have been implemented if a vulnerability assessment had been conducted.”
According to Fox News, NTSB investigators determined that the crew of the Dali reacted quickly in the aftermath of the electrical blackout; however, the crew did not have enough time to restore power to the cargo vessel before it crashed into the bridge. The outlet noted that engineers claimed that the crew misused a flushing pump that limited the ship’s ability to recover power following the blackout.
Bart Barnum, an NTSB engineer, said, “Staff found that Synergy operational oversight was inadequate because it did not discontinue crew’s ongoing use of the flushing pump as a service pump for the diesel generators aboard the Dali, and at least one other vessel.”
Tuesday’s report also determined that communication failures gave the six highway workers no opportunity to evacuate the area prior to the bridge collapse.
Fox News reported that the NTSB’s report comes after Maryland officials confirmed that the rebuilding of the Francis Scott Key Bridge could cost up to $5.2 billion and will not be completed until 2030.
