re: OTD 44 Years Ago - America's Deadliest Ferry Disaster, the Luling Ferry Disaster

for years prior to the sinking, kids were allowed in the pilot house and allowed to steer under the supervision of the captain

Someone else is drinking on the job

quote:

---

ing 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.

---

Difficult but not impossible

I wondered how so many people died from just a sinking ferry on the river until I read this:

quote:

---

The ship rolled the ferry over and sucked it underneath for a bit before it popped back up a few hundred yards downstream.

---

This would definitely knock most of the people out and trap them underwater long enough to drown.

25 vehicles and over 100 people on board... lots of carpooling

quote:

---

It seems like there was enough time for people to get out of their cars and get a life jacket on

---

I feel like most people would just be sitting there not believing anything would happen until it was too late. People take for granted that things will just work. They probably all watched as it was happening then when they realized it was going to actually hit there wasn't time to put on life jackets.

My dad's best friend, duck hunting partner, and neighbor around the corner died in the LFD. He had 2 sets of twin girls who were around 4 yrs old and 6 yrs old.

Sorry for the long list as there are lots of recognizable attorneys for both the plaintiff(s) and defense:

Koerner, Babst & Lambert, Louis R. Koerner, Jr., Hugh P. Lambert, New Orleans, La. for Mrs. Dorothy McKeithen.

Curtis, Foster, Hyde & Mooney, Francis J. Mooney, Jr., New Orleans, La., for NOBR Steamship Pilots Assoc. & Nicholas F. Colombo.

Montgomery, Barnett, Brown & Read, Henry J. Read, Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent Carrere & Denegre, John R. Peters, Jr., co-counsel, New Orleans, La., for Highway Dept.

Warren E. Mouledoux, 1st Asst. Atty. Gen., Louis M. Jones, Donald Ensenat, Asst. Attys. Gen., New Orleans, La., Ronald R. Thompson, Asst. General Counsel, Dept. of Hwys., State of Louisiana, Baton Rouge, La., for plaintiffs in No. 76-3654.

Ungar, Dulitz, Jacobs & Manuel, David J. Kain, New Orleans, La., for Vincent Pardo.

Martzell & Montero, Charles W. Dittmer, Jr., New Orleans, La., for Beverly Hall and Mr. & Mrs. William E. Ford.

Don R. Riddle, Houston, Tex., for Brenda and Christopher Gast.

Charles R. Maloney, New Orleans, La., for Richard Wanko, Mrs. Wanko and Elizabeth Smith.

Darryl J. Tschirn, Metairie, La., Thomas S. Keaty, New Orleans, La., for Benjamin F. Pape, Sr.

Daniel E. Becnel, Jr., Reserve, La., for Linda Smith, Kim Parker Clement, Janice B. Barreca, Laevon Steve Poole, Schexnayder, Hymel, Duke and Maisle Keating Avadie.

William A. Summers, III, Metairie, La., for Lucille Smith, Herman Eugene Charlietta Williams.

Alfred E. McCaleb, III, Baton Rouge, La., for Mrs. Brenda Gast.

Harold S. Bartholomew, Metairie, La., for Janice Collins and Suyapa Dermody.

Leonard H. Rubenstein, New Orleans, La., for Mrs. Ann Masters Hastings.

James E. Kuhn, Denham Springs, La., for Elsie Anthony Gehegan, Robert Malcolm Jones, Sr., and Maxine Harroll Gehegan.

Joel T. Chaisson, Destrehan, La., for Kenneth J. Becnel and Janet F. Soileau Songy, and T & J Services.

Robert L. Huskey, Manchester, Tenn., for Margaret Hastings Van Oostrum and Wm. Quarles.

Walter E. Hollin, Metairie, La., for Mrs. Margie Suggs Snyder.

Stephen G. Sklambra, New Orleans, La., for Sylvia Durie Davis Billy Rex Williamson.

Sessions, Fisman, Rosenson, Snellings & Boisfontaine, Walter C. Thompson, Jr., New Orleans, La., for Wanda Zito Auleta.

John F. Fox, Jr., New Orleans La., for James O. Stewart and Joan B. Stewart.

Gordon W. Matheny, Hammond, La., for Sandra Schafer.

H. Alva Brumfield, III, Baton Rouge, La., for Eula Mae Monistere and Patricia Darlene Fabre Wheat.

Steven F. Griffith, Sr., Destrehan, La., for Patsy Beasley, Elainse Beasley Rogers, and Oswald and Emma Schexnayder.

Marvin L. Jeffers, Baton Rouge, La., for George F. Pritchett, Jr.

Charles R. Maloney, New Orleans, La., for William Alfred Quarles and Elizabeth Smith.

Eldon E. Fallon, New Orleans, La., for Herbert H. Minor, Daisy Minor Marts, and Richard Cobb, Sr.

Philip T. Hager, New Orleans, La., for Elizabeth Hills.

Grady C. Weeks, Houma, La., for Linda Ford.

Eldon S. Fallon, New Orleans, La., for Deborah Quarles.

Chester A. Eggleston, New Orleans, La., for Clara Allen.

Kent Satterlee, Jr., New Orleans, La., for Mrs. Vera Newton and Ellen Green.

W. K. Christovich, New Orleans, La., for Highlands Ins. Co.

Gothard J. Reck, New Orleans, La., for Mr. and Mrs. Ivan J. Pontiff and Barry J. Neyrey.

James H. Morrison, Hammond, La., for Holly Basso and Mrs. Delma Anthony Hughes.

Glenn J. Theriot, Hammond, La., for Ruby Nicolosi.

J. Thomas Nelson, New Orleans, La., for Helen White.

Robert J. Mack, Hammond, La., for Betty Rodriguez.

Vincent C. Cuccia, Metairie, La., David M. Smill, Harahan, La., for Cathy Lyons Balest and Cheri Lyons Balest.

Talbot, Sotile & Carmouche, Donaldsville, La., for Brian Broussard.

George & George, Baton Rouge, La., for Brian Broussard and David Broussard.

Crawford, Lambert & Goldsmith, Gonzales, La., for David Broussard.

Oswald A. DeCuir, New Iberia, La., for Tiny H. Harris.

Gipson, Gipson & Williamson, Meridian, Miss., for Tiny H. Harris, Barbara and Betty Harris.

Randy J. Ungar, New Orleans, La., for George Lingo.

William H. Roundtree, Cocoa, Fla., for Lucille Hodges.

Harold E. Kytle, Kenner, La., for Dan L. McLendon.

Benjamin J. Birdsall, Jr., New Orleans, La., for Virginia A. Pontiff.

Robert E. Tillery, Baton Rouge, La., for Margaret Dobson.

Samuel W. Ethridge, Kenner, La., for Teresa Fuller.

Philip J. Foto, New Orleans, La., for Mary Johnson.

John A. Shea, New Orleans, La., for Carliss Moore.

Taylor & Raggio, Baton Rouge, La., for Cathy Goldston.

James E. Blazek, New Orleans, La., for Rhonda LeBlanc and Jennifer Schexnayder.

Normand F. Pizza, New Orleans, La., for Richard A. Respass.

John T. Keys, Jr., Metairie, La., for D & H Trucking, Inc. and Charles Fisher.

Michael E. Wanek, New Orleans, La., for Jonathan E. Harris.

Paul J. Galuszka, New Orleans, La., for Janet Moore Marts.

Ronald Tanet, New Orleans, La., for Viola Fenroy.

Francis J. Mooney, Jr., Curtis, Foster, Hyde and Mooney, New Orleans, La., for NO-BR Steamship Pilots Assoc. Nos. 76-3654 and 76-3275.

Gerald Leydecker, New Orleans, La., for Brenda Williams Clayton Lawson.

Sidney D. Torres, III, Chalmette, La., for Richard Wanko.

James C. Murphy, Jr., New Orleans, La., for Southeastern Ins.

James S. Thompson, New Orleans, La., for State Farm Mutual.

Salvador E. Gutierrez, Jr., New Orleans, La., for Alvin Eugene, Georgiana Eugene, Mrs. Doris Anderson, Elvera Roberts Brown, Mrs. Marilyn Gail Mitchell Breaux.

Clyde A. Ramirez, Douglas St. Romain, New Orleans, La., for Odile Charles, Willie Mae Charles, Henrietta Williams, Aline Williams, Leona Washington.

Wendell H. Gauthier, New Orleans, La., for Ruby Johnson Dright.

A. C. Powell, III, Hammond, La., for Ruby Kirkland Nicolosi.

Paul A. Bonin, New Orleans, La., for Magaly Bodden.

C. William Bradley, Jr., Edgard, La., for Mary Lee Breaux.

Terrel J. Broussard, New Orleans, La., for Elwin David Randle.

Frederick J. Gisevius, Jr., New Orleans, La., Thomas W. Sanford, Jackson, Miss., for Mrs. Nilwon Boone Holmes.

James A. George, Baton Rouge, La., for Benny Hollie in No. 76-3654 and Carter, Willie and Pape in No. 76-3275.

A. Remy Fransen, Jr., New Orleans, La., for Kathleen Hecker.

William J. Jefferson, New Orleans, La., for Edgar Joe Holmes, Anthony Breaux, Anita Poole Stadler, Hollis R. Hodges, Michael N. Webre, Jerry M. Brown, Jr., Terry E. Norton, Melvin Dright, Jr., Ronald Wolfe.

George P. Webre, Metairie, La., for Leverne Randle.

Robert N. Clarke, Westwego, La., for Lynn Lyons Pearson.

Perrin C. Butler, New Orleans, La., for Barbara Ann Guerra and Charles C. Chatelain.

Dan C. Garner, New Orleans, La., for Sharon Claudette Michelli.

Terriberry, Carroll, Yancey & Farrell, Benjamin W. Yancey, Walter Carroll, Jr., for J. Ludwig Mowinkels Rederi, owner of the M/T Frosta.

Kierr, Gainsburgh, Benjamin, Fallon & Lewis, Eldon F. Fallon, New Orleans, La., for Daisy Minor Marts and Herbert H. Minor and Richard Cobb, Sr.

Gerald R. Kehoe, River Ridge, La., for Mary Lightsey.

Walter E. Kollin, Metairie, La., for Margie Suggs Snyder.

Bernard J. Bagert, Jr., New Orleans, La., for Elizabeth Smith and Wm. Quarles.

Don M. Arata, Bogalusa, La., for Mrs. Joyce H. McKeithen.

A. Remy Fransen, Jr., New Orleans, La., for Kathleen Hecker.

Norman Mopsik, New Orleans, La., for Josephine Rein Mixon.

Nigel Rafferty, Monroe & Lemann, New Orleans, La., for Southern American Insurance Co.