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A tiny, misplaced label on the ship that hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in 2024 may have caused the catastrophic crash that killed six people, U.S. officials revealed on Tuesday.
The Dali hit the bridge after a series of electrical blackouts and system failures that led to loss of propulsion and steering control in the early hours of March 26, 2024. The strike caused the structure to collapse into the water below.
Investigators at the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have reported that a small label wrapped around a critical wire that was plugged into one of the many terminal boxes on the cargo ship had, over the course of years, caused the wire to come loose, tripping a breaker and causing the initial power outage on the ship.
“This tragedy should have never occurred,” said Jennifer Homendy, chair of the NTSB, said at a board meeting on Tuesday, according to the New York Times.
The report also found that the Dali’s crew had responded appropriately to the emergency. Because of the ship’s size and uncontrollable drifting, however, the crew’s actions to try to prevent the crash were ultimately futile.
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I would like to see a pic of that cable and how it was supposed to be fastened and secured. There must many types of vibrations that pass throughout a large ship that may cause problems.
My work was also data, electro-mechanical; some with and without computer based systems. One of several data, single location sites in a metro area became erratic and going 'off-line' for various period lengths. This was in the early '90's when there was a large Michigan Bell central office in the area. I had worked with a few of the techs there previously and had their direct line phone numbers. There were times when the unit was back on-line by the time I had arrived. The telco c.o. never showed poor DB levels or signal to noise levels out of limits, as was the same for me. After 3 visits to this site, I used a handy-dandy $20 Radio Shack 'audio listening' device. It was a small plastic box w/speaker, a 9v battery and a black and red lead with alligator clips. I used this to listen to data signals, as one could become 'familiar' as to what certain data 'sounded' for troubleshooting. With this visit, the unit was still down. Listening to the circuit I could now hear, loud and clear, a local rock FM station playing a favorite song on the receiving data line. A follow up query noted that a ground wire for the cable shield was bad somewhere in a portion of the circuit. A section of the outside cable would become a large antenna. A strange one for sure. Apparently, the music signal was stronger than the data signal and the equipment didn't understand the song.
for troubleshooting. With this visit, the unit was still down. Listening to the circuit I could now hear,
loud and clear, a local rock FM station playing a favorite song on the receiving data line.
A follow up query noted that a ground wire for the cable shield was bad somewhere
in a portion of the circuit. A section of the outside cable would become a large antenna."
Interesting story and good troubleshooting!
One other mod that I made to it- I was always forgetting to turn it off, and I went through more damned 9-volt batteries than you'd believe. Finally I added a small yellow LED to the front panel so that I could see that it was still on.
Great minds think alike, so that obviously includes you and me.
I was working in maritime operations one night on San Francisco Bay when an ammonia tanker lost way inbound approaching the Golden Gate Bridge. Thanks to the pilot, and crew on board, a lot of people--including me--dodged a bullet that night.
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Tanker-s-Alarming-Close-Call-Chemical-laden-3041316.php
I never did learn the cause.
Comment: What the gods would destroy, they first make a loose connection.