Death in the Harbor
By Henry J. Stern
October 16, 2003
Yesterday's ferry tragedy raises an immediate question:
If an airplane with far fewer people aboard has a co-pilot, shouldn't a ferry with up to 6000 passengers have one?
This disaster recalls two earlier events: (1) In October 1999, an Egyptian airliner crashed into the Atlantic Ocean when the co-pilot chanted prayers and dove the plane into the sea while the pilot was out of the cabin. All 217 people on board were killed. (2) In January 1967, philanthropists Stephen Currier and his wife, Audrey, who was Andrew Mellon's granddaughter, were flying a private plane in the Caribbean. Their pilot had a heart attack and the plane fell into shark-infested waters; their bodies were never found.
Two more questions: (1) If the rules do require a co-captain in the pilot's house, what was the ferry captain doing at the other end of the ferry? (2) Since the ferry did not crash into the slip it was supposed to enter, but a concrete pier about 400 feet away, did any crew members notice that the boat was off course, and, if so, what did they do about it?
These issues will undoubtedly be considered by the National Transportation Safety Board. We share the shock and horror at the loss of ten New Yorkers, the suffering of their spouses, parents, children and friends, and the grievous pain of the amputees and others seriously injured in the tragedy.
A financial note: This event will cost the City of New York, a self-insurer, hundreds of millions of dollars in payments to the victims and their families. Perhaps a mechanism should be set up to consolidate the claims, for otherwise the recoveries will vary according to the skill of the plaintiffs' lawyers, not the injuries to the victims.
Although not comparable in dimension or wickedness to 9/11, this tragedy should remind us of the fragility of life, the suddenness with which it may be taken, and the need to be good and to do good while we are here.
Henry J. Stern is the director of NYCivic.