A power boat crashed into the USS Midway Museum in San Diego, causing an estimated $100,000 in damage to the historic vessel turned tourist destination before its captain fled the area.
San Diego authorities said the collision occurred just before 2 p.m. Friday near the Embarcadero. The boat struck the hull of the USS Midway, a decommissioned aircraft carrier that now serves as a museum, Fox 5 San Diego reported.
The crash was captured on the San Diego webcam, which offers livestream views of the city’s downtown from multiple vantage points.
Footage shows the small, private ship coasting into the historic museum, which authorities said caused at least $100,000 in damage.
Harbor Police said the captain of the private ship then fled the area, but was later found and arrested.
The unnamed captain is facing charges of hit-and-run, but is also suspected of operating a boat under the influence, authorities said.
No injuries were reported in the crash. The incident remains under investigation.
The USS Midway Museum, which houses an extensive collection of aircrafts that were mainly built in Southern California, remained open to the public following the incident.
The ship , named after the 1942 Battle of Midway, was commissioned just after World War II, playing key roles in the Cold War and Vietnam War before later being deployed to the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Desert Storm in 1990. There, it served as the flagship for naval airforces in the Gulf and launched more than 3,000 combat missions with no losses, according to the museum’s website.
The ship was then decommissioned in 1992. It was the United States’ longest-serving aircraft carrier, from 1945 to 1992, before it was turned into a museum in 2004.
