A Collision of Guilt: The Sunshine Skyway Bridge Collapse

The How & Why of The Sunshine Skyway Bridge Collapse - Tampa Bay, Florida May 9, 1980. Rammed by Bulk Cargo Ship MV Summit Venture in a sudden microburst thunderstorm, this tragedy is a prime example of when everything goes wrong... all at once.

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▶Timestamps:
00:00 MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY - COAST GUARD!
01:18 Original Sunshine Skyway Bridge - History & Background
05:45 Bulk Carrier Cargo Ship MV Summit Venture - History & Background
06:51 Previous Collisions With and Near The Skyway Bridge
08:00 Early AM - May 9, 1980 The Summit Venture Prepares To Enter Tampa Bay
08:18 Ship Pilots and Their Role in Harbors, Ports, Bays and Channels
08:46 The Summit Venture's Pilot Boards the Vessel As It's Underway
09:24 The Bulk Carrier Summit Venture Enters Mullet Key Channel
09:55 A Microburst Storm Hits When Nearing The Turn Toward the Bridge Channel
10:13 Buoys and Their Roles in Navigating The Ship Channel
10:47 The Storm Surge's Heavy Rain Blocks The Buoys Radar Return
11:13 Miscommunications Between Pilot and Lookout Crewman on Ship's Bow
11:26 Pilot Orders Turn To Channel Heading - Unaware of Actual Position Due To Storm
11:38 The Skyway Bridge Finally Comes Into View Roughly 500 ft Ahead - Too Late
12:45 Chaos and Disaster as The Western Span Collapses Near Instantly
14:05 Collapse, Storm Surge and Near Zero Visibility Creates Deadly Ongoing Situation
15:22 Initial NTSB and Coast Guard Findings Place Majority of Blame on Pilot, John Lerro
16:18 Other Major Factors & Circumstances at Issue to Blame
17:58 Pilot John Lerro's Collision of Guilt
19:13 NTSB Chairman Issues Follow Up Statement Regarding John Lerro
19:59 What Happened To The Old Skyway Bridge After Collapse?
20:28 The New Sunshine Skyway Bridge and its Differences
21:16 What Happened to the MV Summit Venture After Collapse?
22:11 In Memoriam...

▶MUSIC: Produced by @Mors

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▶ A B O U T
Hey, I'm Sam! Child of the 80s turned Parent, Traveler, & Bumbling/Stumbling Nostalgic, Sentimental Creator. With a background in Logistics & Supply Chain Management, Industrial Robotics and a passion for Workplace Safety... half the time I know about 50% what I'm doing!

▶ C O N T A C T M E

#Maritime #StPetersburg #YourSafetyMatters

[ikmarchini]

When the Morandi road bridge collapsed in Genoa, Italy in 2018 the same thing happened- some vehicles saw the gap and stopped in time and tried to wave down oncoming traffic, while other drivers, in a big hurry, ignored the signal and plummeted to their grave. I taught my daughter- when the car ahead of you stops or swerves for no apparent reason you do the same. They see something you don't. Could save your own life.

[poponachtschnecke]

The mayday calls in these videos are so gut wrenching. It makes the story of what happened so much more real, and makes the central figures much more relatable.

[thesisypheanjournal]

I feel so bad for the poor guy who backed up and tried to stop the other traffic. He must have had nightmares for the rest of his life.

[InchonDM]

It is extremely distressing that as soon as I heard about the news of the bridge collapse in Baltimore, I thought of this video, and started immediately looking to see if there were dolphins or island piers around the Francis Scott Key Bridge pillars.

None. The FSK Bridge was opened three years before the Sunshine Skyway went down, and in the _forty years_ since, none of the protections learned from the Sunshine Skyway seem to have been placed around it. So the story repeats itself, with a new bill of blood, sweat, and tears to pay.

[CyphrX]

The radio traffic calls-- they give me chills. It's the truest form of humanity to me. The truest essence of these people, rising to the surface in a moment of calamity. I truly thank god that people like this exist.

[russlehman]

The guy who escaped out of his truck at the bottom and survived is incredible. I don't think one person in ten thousand would be able to do that.

[Flyboy]

Listening to the radio traffic is incredible to me, specifically the tug Dixie Progress. You can hear the urgency in the captain's voice, and imagine the crew's rush to anchor the barge and the big EMD diesel engines howling to push her to the collapse scene. I know that you envision what happened when you get the call, but when you actually get there your stomach still drops. It must have been terrible for them to get on scene and realize that nobody could be saved.

[scottdetter]

We went over that bridge pre1980. Dad would always stew around and at the top of the bridge announce to us kids “ok boys this is your stop” we were terrified but through the years had great fun with his antics. Never imagined it would fall. I have been terrified of bridges since then. BTW I love my Dad!

[hrunchtayt]

Tampa local here, thanks for actually covering this very forgotten disaster that barely anyone outside of Tampa really knows. It’s odd going fishing on the old sections of the skyway that remain and remembering that people once drove on those sections of road with some never coming back.

The only really cool things we got here in Tampa that come to my mind at least is the bridge, the old USS American Victory, The CSX port Tampa line, the aquarium, and some other stuff I’m forgetting. We got a very good Irish-pub that’s downtown called Hattricks with an extremely good duck poutine dish.

[Greystar]

As a Tampa Native I always see how busy those fishing piers on each end of the old bridge can get. It's good that there is a large public reminder of the past that is still intact there, and that some of the old structure still has a use.

[schmowder]

I’m glad that the NTSB moved away from fault-based investigations. Concluding “he shouldn’t have made the mistake he made” is so insufficient. Especially for preventing a disaster like this in the future

[leftylou]

I remember my mom driving over the 1st span of the original bridge to get to Dr. Webbs City in St. Pete in the late 50's. This guy is right about the 5% grade. It was awful steep and scary to drive over, and all I had to do was sit in the car while my mom drove. That was a terrible accident, one thing the narrator did not tell you was the one car stopped on the steel grate in a downward grade position. The man driving made it out of the car, then realized he left his golf clubs in the trunk. He went back and got them without a single thought of the danger.

[uzaiyaro]

I will say it’s somewhat refreshing that John had a heart in this. Not saying he should feel guilty for the rest of his life, not at all, but him doing all he could to ensure this never happens again, deserves a huge amount of respect.

[stonefox]

It feels seriously reckless to put up that kind of bridge structure across a shipping lane and NOT put any lights/ radar reflectors on the bridge itself on the pylons that make the edges of the lane. Not even a more tight line of buoys on the stretch after the bend.

[Sokanoted]

The skyway bridge fell 3 years after the Francis Scott key bridge was built in Baltimore. In the ~55 years since I’m surprised bridges across the USA (or at least bridges over major shipping hubs) haven’t had their piers reinforced to protect motorists from the threat of ever larger ships striking the supports.

[unusualcards]

I’m afraid you have some new material today. 💔

[Siha]

Man I don't know why but, hearing people dropping everything to come help gets me every time, hearing the tug coming in the beginning got me sniffling while watching.

[TyRose]

In my city of Baltimore the Key bridge just collapsed today due to a boat striking it. I immediately thought of this video and what I learned and how similar all of this was. I few weeks ago I was near the Port of Baltimore and saw a boat docked and mentioned to the driver that it was a roll on/roll off boat used for cargo. So very random. I knew it was a ro/ro ship just by looking at it from what I leaned here.

This YouTube Channel has been a wealth of knowledge.

[lwolfav]

Something similar happened today. A ship hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland and caused the whole thing to collapse. It's crazy to me that this sort of thing still happens. My heart goes out to those people.

[chiroquacker]

I have lived 30 minutes from the skyway for nearly my entire life and remember this when I was a kid. The only effect it had on my family was that my uncle was supposed to be crossing the bridge on the day of collapse and my aunt was very worried until he made it home safely. One other person my family knew was on the bridge and attempted to / accidently took a photograph as it happened but the picture didn't turn out or show anything. This person also made it home safely. Later on I also remember seeing the remnants as I was traveling with my parents on the surviving span, and I also saw the remnants at a distance on the horizon from Anna Maria Island and the Cortez Road Bridge. The impression I had was that it was the twin of the surviving span that just for some reason suddenly stopped near the apex in a shockingly perfectly clean break. The new bridge was a huge deal because of it's striking new design and new safety features, and is considered the flagship bridge for the state of Florida. I do feel bad for the summit venture pilot. He was doing his job correctly and was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was also noted that after the collapse, the toll booth collectors for the bridge didn't know it had happened and were still letting people go through for a while. Also of note: While the new bridge is much safer, it also offered a much better view of the ocean far below which was unnerving for some people including my mother.