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OTD 44 Years Ago - America's Deadliest Ferry Disaster, the Luling Ferry Disaster
Posted on 10/20/20 at 9:05 am
Posted on 10/20/20 at 9:05 am
WWLTV article from 2016 on the 40th Anniversary
quote:
Known as the Luling ferry disaster, the Mississippi River collision between the ferry George Prince and the Norwegian tanker S.S. Frosta remains the deadliest ferry disaster in American history.
Many of the 78 victims were construction and plant workers who drove their cars onto the Luling-Destrehan ferry the morning of Oct. 20, 1976, headed to their shifts at the plants up and down the river.
Not long after the ferry began its trek from Destrehan toward Luling, it collided head on with the tanker, which was traveling upriver. The impact flipped the ferry over and dumped passengers and their automobiles into the river. Witnesses said the captain of the ship tried to warn the ferry to turn away, but to no avail.
“The pilot seemed oblivious to what was going on. The passengers were warning him as well, honking their horns and flashing their headlights, but he seemed to not know what was there and a major collision ensued and 77 people lost their lives,” said filmmaker Royd Anderson in an interview with Louisiana Public Broadcasting. Anderson produced a documentary about the disaster which will be screened Thursday night in Destrehan.
“He just kept going straight and the pilot of the ship did give signals and a warning blast. A lot of survivors testified to that, people who were on the banks witnessed it, heard the whistle blasts and it just seems that he did not see it or did not hear it. We don’t know.”
Accounts from the 16 people who survived the disaster, along with the testimony of eyewitnesses, led federal investigators to conclude that the pilot of the ferry, Egidio Auletta, was to blame for the incident. An autopsy on Auletta found that he had been drinking on the job and was intoxicated at the time of the crash.
This post was edited on 10/20/20 at 9:19 am
14
Posted on 10/20/20 at 9:14 am to rt3
quote:
OTD 45 Years Ago
quote:
1976
Hmmmm
Posted on 10/20/20 at 9:17 am to upgrayedd
quote:
quote:
OTD 45 Years Ago
quote:
1976
Hmmmm
Its 2020. We even celebrate the anniversaries of bad things early.
Posted on 10/20/20 at 9:18 am to rt3
quote:First, it was 44 years ago
OTD 45 Years Ago
Third, you’re a dumbass
This post was edited on 10/20/20 at 9:19 am
Posted on 10/20/20 at 9:19 am to upgrayedd
I typo'ed
fixed
my bad
it's still an OTD
fixed
my bad
it's still an OTD
Posted on 10/20/20 at 9:19 am to rt3
Did the ferry have life jackets? Did the people on board know where to get them? It seems like there was enough time for people to get out of their cars and get a life jacket on, if they knew where to get them.
Anytime I ride a ferry I always make sure to know where they are.
So tragic and so preventable. Drinking and driving a ferry?
Anytime I ride a ferry I always make sure to know where they are.
So tragic and so preventable. Drinking and driving a ferry?
Posted on 10/20/20 at 9:21 am to rt3
Did they recover all the bodies/cars?
Posted on 10/20/20 at 9:23 am to rt3
quote:
ferry George Prince
Much smaller than I thought it was...judging from the pictures you posted.
Posted on 10/20/20 at 9:24 am to member12
I don't know that the first photo was the same vessel. That's a very old photo.
Posted on 10/20/20 at 9:25 am to LSUFanHouston
quote:
It seems like there was enough time for people to get out of their cars and get a life jacket on, if they knew where to get them.
Yeah you would imagine that. Not knowing the time, but if it was shift workers going in then it had to be 4-5 AM and still dark. And if they work plant workers then most would have been wearing steel toed boots which would be impossible to swim in.
Posted on 10/20/20 at 9:27 am to LSUFanHouston
We were driving down river road that morning to a construction site and noticed cars pulled over . Lots of people were on the levee since traffic was shut down. You cold see the ferry’s bottom across the river .Lots of the people had relatives on the ferry and the others were waiting to hear if they had made it over .
Posted on 10/20/20 at 9:28 am to RedPop4
quote:
I don't know that the first photo was the same vessel. That's a very old photo.
that photo is attached to stories of the disaster... so it appears to be 1 in the same
Posted on 10/20/20 at 9:28 am to rt3
what a fricked up situation that was. Cars floating down the river with people trapped inside.
Posted on 10/20/20 at 9:29 am to Lago Gato
More pictures of the George Prince
During recovery and rescue:
Can't find any of the SS Frosta.
During recovery and rescue:
Can't find any of the SS Frosta.
This post was edited on 10/20/20 at 9:35 am
Posted on 10/20/20 at 9:32 am to LSUFanHouston
quote:
Did the ferry have life jackets? Did the people on board know where to get them? It seems like there was enough time for people to get out of their cars and get a life jacket on, if they knew where to get them.
Yes, but according to the story, only one person had one on at the time of the collision. The ship rolled the ferry over and sucked it underneath for a bit before it popped back up a few hundred yards downstream.
quote:
When the ferry had nearly finished its voyage across the river, she was struck near the middle of the port side by the bow of the Frosta.[9] The force of the collision drove the stem of the Frosta 8 feet (2.4 m) into the side, impaling the George Prince on the port side and pushing her sideways up the river. The starboard side of the George Prince was quickly submerged, and the vessel capsized almost immediately. After capsizing, the ferry was driven under the ship, where the bottoms of the vessels collided.
quote:
The ferry was on a constant bearing, less than 500 feet (150 m) away, when it passed out of sight of the Frosta's bridge crew. The crew felt a slight bump as the ship collided with the ferry. The ferry rolled off the bow of the ship to the starboard side, then rolled under, emerging on the ship's port side, 275 yards (251 m) from the bank. As the ferry came into view, it was nearly totally capsized. A vehicle was seen floating down the river, with its headlights still on, before filling with water and sinking.
ETA:
quote:
A total of 18 passengers survived the collision.[7] Passengers who were able to see downstream became aware of the rapidly closing motions of the vessels, and rightly concluded that the collision was imminent. Fourteen of the survivors were thrown clear and surfaced without difficulty. Three others were briefly trapped under the George Prince. The last survivor had run back to his vehicle, thinking he would be safer in his truck. After the collision, he managed to escape his sinking vehicle through a window. Only one survivor had a life jacket before going into the water, but had not had time to put it on. Two others found life jackets floating in the river, which they used for a short time, but neither man had time to properly don the life jackets.
This post was edited on 10/20/20 at 9:36 am
Posted on 10/20/20 at 9:36 am to LSUBoo
kinda surprised the drunk captain's name on the top of the memorial
figure his name would've slipped a little lower considering his complete negligence was the reason for the tragedy
figure his name would've slipped a little lower considering his complete negligence was the reason for the tragedy
Posted on 10/20/20 at 9:47 am to rt3
quote:
figure his name would've slipped a little lower considering his complete negligence was the reason for the tragedy
You can see the wheel house in the pictures of the George Prince. He'd have an unobstructed 360 degree view - just have to turn his head.
This post was edited on 10/20/20 at 9:48 am
Posted on 10/20/20 at 10:26 am to goofball
I wonder if he was suicidal and it was deliberate. Such a thing seemed unthinkable at the time but there have been passenger jet pilots do the same since then.
ETA: were all the cars and victims recovered?
ETA: were all the cars and victims recovered?
This post was edited on 10/20/20 at 10:29 am
Posted on 10/20/20 at 10:30 am to rt3
Some of my classmates at Nicholl’s were on the ferry.
I remember that morning like it was yesterday. It was very cold and hazy.
Whenever I am on a ferry I get out of my truck and watch the river traffic as if I am piloting the ferry. I stand right by the life jacket box and will jump in a heartbeat if I see an imminent collision.
I remember that morning like it was yesterday. It was very cold and hazy.
Whenever I am on a ferry I get out of my truck and watch the river traffic as if I am piloting the ferry. I stand right by the life jacket box and will jump in a heartbeat if I see an imminent collision.
This post was edited on 10/20/20 at 10:39 am
Posted on 10/20/20 at 10:30 am to LSUBoo
quote:
The last survivor had run back to his vehicle, thinking he would be safer in his truck
That one is kind of a headscratcher
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