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Subscribe to RSSA commuter ferry slams into a New York City dock, injuring dozens on board. NBC's Chris Clackum reports.
Updated at 3:35 p.m. ET -- A commuter ferry packed with more than 300 passengers crashed into a dock in Lower Manhattan early Wednesday, injuring 74, at least two critically. Nine people were also in serious condition, officials said.
The force of the crash tossed some morning commuters in the air and sent others tumbling down stairs, witnesses said.
“Everybody got jolted right out of their seats,” passenger Sean Boyle told NBC 4 New York, adding that it felt like the vessel went "full speed right into the pier.”
For more, visit NBCNewYork.com
After the accident, a large gash could be seen in the underside of the ferry, which was operated by Seastreak and originated from Highland, N.J., around 8 a.m.
Aerial footage showed people strapped to stretchers, their heads and necks immobilized, with firefighters swarming the ferry and surrounding areas.
“We were pulling in like we normally do every day, and the next thing I know, I was six feet in the air,” rider Ashley Furman told NBC 4 New York. “I woke up from getting knocked out six feet in the air behind me. Thank god I’m OK and I’m not on a stretcher like everybody else.”
One of those in critical condition was rushed to surgery with a head injury, a spokesperson with the New York Police Department said. A total of 326 people, including five crew members, had been aboard the vessel.
It was not known what caused the crash, which occurred at Manhattan's Pier 11, near Wall Street. Weather conditions were normal Wednesday morning, and no mariner warnings had been posted before the 8:45 a.m. accident happened, NBC 4 New York reported.
According to James Barker, Seastreak’s president, the ferry’s captain was at the controls when the vessel crashed. Barker said the captain had passed a breathalyzer test, and authorities were still waiting for results of a drug test – both of which are routine tests to be taken in accidents such as this one, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
He added that the captain, a 10-year veteran of Seastreak, was cooperating with authorities.
The National Transportation Safety Board launched a full investigation into the crash, and was working with the Coast Guard.
Seastreak commuter service offers rides from the New York metropolitan area to and from New Jersey, according to its website.
Wednesday's ferry accident was not the only one in recent New York history. In 2003, a Staten Island ferry got into an accident when its pilot, suffering from fatigue and on painkillers, passed out at the wheel; 11 people were killed. In May 2010, due to a mechanical malfunction, the same ferry smashed into a pier, injuring nearly 40 people.
PhotoBlog: Pictures from the ferry accident in Lower Manhattan
NBC News
A commuter ferry crashed into Pier 11 in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday, injuring dozens.
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We must ban all ferries...immediately. Liberals never met a "ban" they didn't like.
It's time to build subway/rail/bike/pedestrian connection from Staten Island to Brooklyn.
Yes I agree, time to ban high capacity ferries. We don't need ferries with such high capacity. This give the captain a chance to kill or injur more people. President Obama needs to get off his butt and do something about this now! Gov. Cuomo should confiscate these ferries. Get them off the water now before someone gets hurt or killed again. Go get them Cuomo, confiscate the ferries.
Maybe the Captain was distracted by cleaning his assault rifle.
No no. he had to hurry and finish his large drink before docking.
yeah and I bet that large drink spilled all over his pristine captain's uniform and he had a "big gulp"!
seems we need to idiot proof computer keyboards.
These high capacity ferries serve no purpose but to kill and maim. I am certain Bloomberg and Feinstein will soon call for more regulation or outright banning of large capacity ferries.
Yea, and I'll bet 90% of the injuries are neck and back pain.
The hoard of lawyers at the ER exits must be huge.
Lawyer business cards are being air dropped from private jets onto the dock.
Fox news is just now reporting that the ferry captain was tested on the scene with a BAC of .15.
They probably also said he was Muslim liberal... Quoting fox news usually carries little weight.
Didn't they report Romney would win in a landslide??
Is the captain a Mormon? Silly question, since they don't drink alcohol.
I am sure a government committee will be assigned to make some new regulations that will cause harm to the industry with time and money.
Christie should have approved the tunnel work.
Since nobody in America is qualified to do anything anymore, obviously this is another instance of a typical citizen running a ferry who didn't know what he was doing....probably low paid with no benefits like everybody else now who didn't care, was unfocused and maybe only had a doctors degree. Can't we get an undocumented worker in here to run these ferry's?
Ban ferries immediately! They injure and maim innocent people.
This has gone on long enough! Needless ferry violence MUST END!!
Unfortunately this is gonna give Christie another opportunity to sound like a tough guy, blow-hard when in reality the NJ economy is tanking big time under his watch and will just get worse. Duck and cover is his game.
BREAKING NEWS 2. It is rumored that 8 people threw themselves down a flight of stairs for an unknown legal reason
"Better ban high capacity ferries."
No, we need more "ferry control."
Wow, 57 injured due to "pier pressure".
If ferries are outlawed, then only outlaws will have ferries.
If fairies are outlawed, then only outlaws will have (in the biblical sense) fairies.
I think the Govt should outlaw Ferrys and have dock owners register their docks.
ZMan2012 ... you might be right...High capacity ferries don't go through movie theaters killing 6 people, and they don't break into schools and run over 22 innocent little children.
But, as usual, someone has to spout off without offering a solution. I think that makes you the idiot ZMan.
I bet this would not have been as bad if they required all ferry passengers to be seated and wearing a seatbelt at all times while the ferry is in motion. And, while they are at it, they should require the same type of head restraint systems that NASCAR drivers have. And, all passengers must have health insurance in order to ride on the ferry. Seems simple enough to prevent these horrific injuries from happening.
Ban Ferries . they the root of all evil . Alaska girl and feisty and pigotry can all bow down to me . the smartest thing to ever come out of their mouths was my D!ck !
I commuted to San Francisco daily by ferry for almost ten years. There's no better, more comfortable way to get to your destination than on the ferry, which out here is quick and safe. You can sit back in a large comfortable seat, enjoy the water, sleep without being awakened at every bus stop, work on your laptop at a table that has power, and enjoy a glass of wine on the trip home -- luxury, at a very reasonable price.
The biggest problem I observed was that people who were so obssessed with being the first ones off the ferry would gather at the exit doors and just stand there, with their packages, rolly-bags, whatever. No place to hold onto anything, and all in a herd. This despite announcements to keep their seats until the docking maneuver was complete.
We have both strong currents and strong winds in the Bay. When the two work opposite each other it can be a real challenge for the captain, no matter how experienced. I know, I've spoken to a few. If people don't co-operate in their safety, there's little the crew can do. Possibly a crewman could herd everyone back into their seats, but the crew is busy preparing for the docking, and it would take an extra crew member to tell people to sit down and wait; something people should have sense enough to do themselves.
Based on my years of riding the ferry safely (I'm usually among the last to debark, as I consider my person more important than the two or three minutes I'd gain by risking injury on a hard landing), I'd be willing to bet that most of the people who were hurt, were standing at the hatches or in the stairwells when the ferry hit the dock. It's not possible to judge, from the accompanying photo, where the 'gash' in the hull was located relative to seating places.
All that said, hard landings do occur, especially in windy winter conditions. I don't know about either the winds or the currents at the ferry landing in New York, but, if they're anything like we have out here, for heaven's sake people, sit the hell down! And stay there until the vessel is snugged to the dock. You'll be far safer than standing somewhere you cannot grab onto a solid member of the boat, and end up on your ass, or worse.
And yes, I'm a Bay Area liberal, but I can recognize good sense and poor judgment when I see them.
Quick, it's New York, someone call FEMA and write these people a check. It's a diz az tah.
My first thought, we should ban ferries. Also, ban NFA (National Ferry Association), before it even is formed. Might as well ban cars too since they kill so many people. AAA needs to be listed as a terrorist organization.
Maybe another intoxicated ferry operator!
cue the frivolous, idiotic lawsuits in 3,2,1...