The Mexican navy has said that the pilot navigating the training ship Cuauhtémoc during its Saturday night crash into the Brooklyn Bridge was New York-based.
“The ship must be controlled by a specialized harbor pilot from the New York government,” Admiral Raymundo Pedro Morales Ángeles said at a press conference.
Morales Ángeles acknowledged there was not much time for the pilot to react to the situation, possibly as little as 80 to 90 seconds.
Two soldiers from the Mexican navy were killed and 22 others were injured during the incident, which collapsed all three of the ship’s masts. The event was captured on video by onlookers and quickly spread on social media.
The dead were identified as América Sánchez, 20, from Veracruz, and Adal Jair Maldonado Marcos, 23, from Oaxaca. In interviews with Mexico News Daily, family members talked about Sanchez’s aspirations to become a naval engineer, and Maldonado’s long-held dream of following his father’s path as a sailor.
The ship, which had 277 people on board, was in the midst of a 254-day global goodwill tour, beginning with a 6 April departure from Acapulco, on Mexico’s Pacific coast, and spent five days docked in New York City.
New York police said the ship lost power as it left the harbor for Iceland, and was sucked toward the bridge by the current. The ship, at 157ft tall (48m), was unable to fit under the clearance of the Brooklyn Bridge, at 134.5ft (41m).
A member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was unclear as to how police discerned the ship lost power, but said there were no structural integrity concerns related to the Brooklyn Bridge itself.
Onlookers reported seeing crewmembers hanging from the ships masts and beams while awaiting rescue.
A full investigation into the ship’s crash is being handled by the NTSB. A preliminary report is expected to be issued in under 30 days, but the full investigation will probably take over a year.
