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NTSB: Data consistent with power loss before Key Bridge strike; crew interviews ongoing

Federal investigators have obtained data that is “consistent with a power outage” onboard the freighter Dali before it struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, the National Transportation Safety Board’s chair said Wednesday night, and have begun interviewing the cargo ship’s crew.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy cautioned that the agency could not confirm that the ship had lost power, saying that a full investigation would take one to two years. A preliminary report is expected in two to four weeks, however.

After boarding the ship hours earlier Wednesday in the rain, she described a scene of “utter devastation” with the bridge’s three spans down in the water and damaged cargo containers on the vessel.

The U.S. Coast Guard downloaded data from the ship’s voyage data recorder early Tuesday in the hours after it struck the mile-long bridge, downing it into the Patapsco River below. It gave a flash drive with the information to investigators with the NTSB, which is leading the probe into the bridge collapse that killed six people.

Investigators have been working to “validate” information collected from the recorder, Homendy said at a news conference near BWI Marshall Airport. The equipment is “basic” compared to the type of “black box” recorders used on airplanes, she said, but it provides a “snapshot” of data from a ship’s bridge.

If the equipment, required by international regulation, works properly and the data can be verified, it can provide information that serves as a “road map” of what the ship and its crew were doing in the lead-up to, and during, a casualty event, Lawrence Brennan, an adjunct professor with Fordham University School of Law who teaches a maritime law course, told The Baltimore Sun.

Homendy previously called information collected by the recorder as “critical” to her agency’s investigation. But, along with lead investigator Marcel Muise, she cautioned Wednesday night about its limitations.

“The VDR recording is comprised of audio from the ship’s bridge, as well as recordings from the ship’s VHF, or very high frequency, radio,” Muise told reporters. “The quality of that audio varies widely because of the high levels of background noise and alarms.”

He added that further analysis would be conducted at the agency’s lab in Washington, with experts working to filter out background noise and improve audio quality so that investigators can derive a definitive account of what happened on the 984-foot ship.

A preliminary review, Muise said, revealed sensor data showing the ship’s speed and when alarms went off. Audio recorders captured the local pilot, aboard to guide the ship through the harbor and shipping channel, making steering commands and rudder orders. At about 1:25 a.m., mere minutes before the crash,  several alarms went off, he said. “At the same time, VDR sensor data stopped recording.”

Muise said the audio continued recording, capturing the pilot’s orders to drop an anchor, reporting a loss of power, calling for tugboat assistance and giving a “mayday” signal. Officials have said the mayday helped prevent more casualties because police stationed on the bridge were able to close it to traffic.

Not only can a voyage data recorder help investigators retrace the ship’s path and determine how the crew responded when things went awry, it allows the NTSB to “recreate what’s visible on the ship’s radar,” Thomas Roth-Roffy, a U.S. Coast Guard licensed chief engineer who worked for 18 years as an NTSB investigator, told The Sun. “It actually does screen captures every 30 seconds or a minute.”

Homeny and Muise described the data as a pivotal first step for investigators probing for the reasons why the cargo ship ran into one of the Key Bridge’s support columns — causing the bridge to crumble into the Patapsco River —  and whether there was anything defective about the nearly 50-year-old span.

When the bridge collapsed, it sent a crew repairing potholes on its deck fell tumbling into the frigid waters of the Patapsco River Six people were initially missing; divers located two by Wednesday evening. The others are presumed dead. Officials said they believed the other bodies were trapped beneath the wreckage of the bridge, and that the debris would have to be removed first.

Where the recording data falls short, investigators may rely on interviews with crew members to fill in the gaps.

After boarding the ship Wednesday, Homendy said, investigators began interviews with the crew — including the captain, chief engineer and first mate — and would continue questioning its members Thursday. She said the two local pilots who were on board at the time were scheduled for interviews Thursday.

The NTSB’s final report will detail the accident and provide an agency analysis and conclusions, along with the probable cause of the event and related safety recommendations.

At a Tuesday news conference, Homendy said that investigators could consider whether the bridge should have had additional protective structures and the contents of previous bridge inspections. That examination of past safety deficiencies is a “meticulous process” that could take time, she said. She also said she was in touch with her counterpart in Singapore, as the Dali was flagged in that Southeast Asian city-state.

Wednesday evening, Homendy said the Key Bridge, which opened in 1977, was “fracture critical.” That means a bridge will fall if one piece fails. That method of building bridges is no longer preferred: Less than 3% of bridges in America today are fracture critical, according to data Homendy cited.

“This bridge was in satisfactory condition,” Homendy said. “The last fracture critical inspection was in May 2023. We have not been able to go through that inspection and all the documents. We also have requested all fracture critical, routine and underwater inspections of the bridge over the last decade.”

From interviews with crew members, investigators hope to gain a better understanding of how a vessel functioned, Roth-Roffy explained. Given that crews come and go, the NTSB will also examine its inspection history as far back “as they can go, to see if there are any patterns with mechanical failures.”

Built in 2015, the 984-foot Dali was cited for deficiencies with its propulsion and auxiliary machinery during a June 2023 inspection at the Port of San Antonio in Chile, according to the Electronic Quality Shipping Information System, a shipping information website. An inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard in September reported no deficiencies, according to the data compiled by Equasis.

The Dali’s predominantly Indian crew remains aboard and has been “cooperating with what we need,” Vice Admiral Peter W. Gautier of the Coast Guard said during a White House press briefing Wednesday about bridge collapse. “They’re still there and very much engaged in the dialogue and investigation.”

In addition to alcohol and drug testing for everyone aboard at the time of an incident, investigators require crew members to document their work and rest history for the previous 72 hours, Roth-Roffy said.

“Fatigue is a huge issue in a lot of investigations,” he said.

Roth-Roffy said crew conversation as a situation devolves into an emergency can be telling to investigators of mariners’ level of training and adherence to required safety management protocols.

“When you lose a main engine or lose a generator, a lot of the equipment will come on automatically, but some of it may not,” he said. “And you have to be able to quickly identify what you need to get that generator started again or get that main engine started again.”

The local pilot was at the helm of the Dali when it appeared to lose power early Tuesday, causing the ship’s steering and propulsion system to fail, said Clay Diamond, executive director of the American Pilots Association.

The pilot did “everything he could” by contacting authorities and steering the ship’s rudder to the left once its backup generators kicked in, though the ship’s engines were still inoperable, he said. The ship also dropped anchor. Diamond credited those maneuvers with giving authorities the extra time to shut down bridge traffic.

At a Wednesday afternoon news conference, Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath of the Coast Guard said his agency was not made aware of any engine problems while the Dali was in the port.

“We were informed that they were going to conduct routine engine maintenance on it while it was in port and that’s the only thing we were informed about the vessel in that regard,” Gilreath told reporters.

In past cases, the voyage data recorder provided key details.

When the cargo vessel El Faro sank in 2015 near the Bahamas after sailing into the path of Hurricane Joaquin, investigators went to great lengths to find the wreckage and retrieve its voyage data recorder. It was pulled from more than 15,000 feet below sea level on the third attempt. That effort resulted in a lengthy transcript of more than 500 pages.

The chilling account includes a narration of the captain deciding to ring the general alarm to wake everyone up, saying, “We’re definitely not in good shape right now.” Shortly after, a chief mate investigated the situation on one deck and reported water was “chest deep.” Three minutes after the alarm bell rang, the captain said, “Bow is down, bow is down.”

Roughly 10 minutes later, someone called out “I’m gone” or “I’m a goner.” The captain yelled, “No, you’re not.” The audio recording ended less than a minute later.

An earlier NTSB investigation into the Delta Mariner striking the Eggner’s Ferry Bridge in Kentucky in 2012 relied on a simplified voyage data recorder onboard. It captured audio from the pilothouse, as well as location, speed, rate of turn and depth.

The report found that 15 minutes before the impact, someone called out that the vessel was approaching a bridge. It quoted the contract pilot discussing the position of lights on the bridge — saying “I’m thinking the red looks higher,” then moments later asking, “It is, ain’t it?” The transcript reported that less than a minute later, he said: “Oh [expletive].”

Baltimore Sun reporter Dan Belson and Sam Janesch contributed to this article.