Ferry disaster pilot ‘may have been asleep’

A STATEN ISLAND ferry pilot may have fallen asleep just before his ship slammed into a pier killing 10 people and injuring at least 42 others in New York harbour, police said yesterday.

The pilot, identified as Richard Smith, ran away from the scene so quickly that he left behind his gear and his keys, then broke into his house where he slit his wrists and shot himself with a pellet gun.

Mr Smith was in critical condition after surgery at St Vincent's Hospital, the same place where 22 victims including at least one amputee were rushed after the crash.

A co-worker told authorities that Smith had been asleep, slumped over the controls, a law enforcement source said.

The ferry's crew was to be interviewed and tested for drugs and alcohol, said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"The scene was total chaos," said passenger Frank Corchado, 29, of Staten Island, recounting a tableau of horrific sights: a decapitated man, a legless woman, a fellow passenger bleeding from his eyes.

"There was a lady without legs, right in the middle of the boat," he said. "She was screaming. You ever see anything like that?"

The 300-foot craft was carrying an estimated 1,500 people, 36 of whom were treated at the scene or were immediately taken to hospitals. Six others walked away injured and went to hospitals later.

Mr Corchado said he tried to help as many people as possible get out. Witnesses said some jumped into the wind-swept 62-degree-Fahrenheit water and others ran as the pier smashed the side of the boat.

"Most of the people who died were older people, I believe, who couldn't move or didn't have enough time to get out of the way," he said.

The victims were seated in the window seats on the front right side of the Andrew J Barberi ferry. Some of the injured were pulled from the rubble by rescue workers. One of the dead was found in the water off Staten Island.

Evan Robinson, a musician waiting for a ferry on Staten Island, said he watched as the craft suddenly veer crazily. Two other witnesses said the ferry appeared to speed up when it should have slowed down for docking.

At Staten Island University Hospital, two victims with amputations were among those brought in from the ferry.

Others were suffering from back and spinal injuries, one victim reported chest pains and one had hypothermia.

The ferry is among the city's most beloved institutions, providing free rides and offering a spectacular view of New York Harbour. The fleet of seven boats carry 70,000 commuters per day between Staten Island and lower Manhattan. The Andrew J Barberi, commissioned in 1981, can carry up to 6,000 people.

The worst accident in the ferry's history happened in 1871, when a boiler exploded as a boat departed Manhattan. More than 125 people were killed.