The sinking of El Faro

Looks interesting and I want to read it...but god damn that is a long article.

Off topic, but I prefer audio books/podcasts over reading (yea yea i know) but I can't concentrate long enough to sit down and read.

The Pocket app is for you. You can save articles to read later and many of them have an audio option. You can play with the pace and the pitch to try to make it more human.

Will read later, thanks.

Beats the heck out of a Stephen King novel. Thanks for the link

How long could someone have lasted in the ocean with an immersion suit?

A long time in 70+ degree water. The wind and waves were likely the big factors. Some of them likely never made it off the ship. During the Perfect Storm, an air force rescue helicopter went down. With all their survival training, three of the four barely made it, and only because a coast guard cutter happened to be nearby. The fourth was never seen again.

quote:

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Hamm said, “You gonna leave me?”

Davidson answered firmly, “I’m not leaving you. Let’s go.”

A low rumbling began and did not let up. It was the sound of El Faro going down. The last words heard on the bridge are Davidson’s. He is crying out to Hamm: “It’s time to come this way!”

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33 people on board. The company settled with the families of 10 men for pre-death pain and suffering. 500k each.

What a terrible mishap.

Incredible. That put knots in my stomach.

I like how one of the factors of the catastrophe is the "mental inertia". Like everyone on board who makes decisions is convinced that this is going to turn out ok based on the initial plan.

But then it all goes to hell and everyone dies. And it seemed like no one realized that they were doomed, probably until they were about to jump in after the life rafts in 150 mph winds and 40 ft seas.

quote:

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But then it all goes to hell and everyone dies. And it seemed like no one realized that they were doomed, probably until they were about to jump in after the life rafts in 150 mph winds and 40 ft seas.

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Pitching more violently, the ship was starting to pound. Davis recommended slowing down. They were approaching the waypoint where Davidson’s route plan called for the significant turn to the left, taking the ship, as the captain believed, across the path of the hurricane in its yellow zone, a safe distance from the eye. Randolph did not want to do it. She called Davidson on the house phone and told him that the hurricane was now a Category 3. He knew that already. She proposed the escape route to the south and a smooth sail on to San Juan. He rejected her suggestion. Despite the uncertainties in the forecast, he was so convinced of his strategy that he was able to sleep. He had not yet even downloaded the latest B.V.S. package, e-mailed to his computer at 11 P.M. the previous night. He finally downloaded the package at 4:45 in the morning, when the data it was based on was 11 hours old.

When Randolph got off the phone with him, she said to Davis, “He said to run it.” She meant the course as planned. She said, “Hold on to your arse!,” and laughed.


The moment their fate was sealed IMO