New transcripts released by the National Transportation Safety Board offer an inside look at the Dali cargo ship’s activity in the moments leading up to a tragic crash that led to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, 2024.
Six construction workers were killed when the bridge collapsed into the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland.
The first details from the transcripts are from the day before the crash, when several alarms were detected on the ship’s bridge on March 25 at 2:20 p.m.
An hour and 37 minutes later, the Dali’s chief officer and electronics technician reported the alarms were “nominal for a unspecified condition.”
About two hours later, the ship’s master instructed that a thorough report be written about the alarms, stressing not to leave out any information.
Later on, after midnight, the Baltimore-based pilot and training pilot boarded the Dali. They reviewed prelaunch procedures, including arranging tugboats and slackening lines.
They even have a mundane conversation, where the pilot mentioned to the training pilot and master that he “had stepped on a staple at home.”
At 12:34 a.m., the pilot tells the training pilot that this run is “pretty straight forward” and he will allow him to drive on “the mainstream,” after he “speeds down the channel.”
Then, moments after they launch, the pilot gives steering commands “hard port” and “ease to twenty.”
At 1:07 a.m. the pilot told the Dali’s captain: “we can let go of the forward tugboat.”
In the next few minutes, the pilots discuss which radar to use, how long the trip will take and even place coffee orders with the crew.
Ten minutes later, light music begins playing on the ship’s bridge and the training pilot comments on how similar the ship is to another cargo ship he had been on before, the Dali’s sister, the Cezanne.
Moments before deadly crash
At 1:24 a.m., multiple alarms activate and a “sound similar to Automatic Power Change Over Circuit” is heard on the recording. The pilot asked: “Do we have steering?”
Over the next four minutes, directions are given on steering. The pilot gets on the radio warning the dispatcher that the ship has lost power and he can’t control the boat, saying “have them shut down the Bay Bridge, not the Bay Bridge, the Key Bridge.”
Just before crashing, the Dali’s master said “not working,” and the pilot echoes “not working [expletive].”
Sound of the Key Bridge’s collapse can be heard at 1:29 a.m.
The pilots exchange curses and the training pilot shouts: “The Key Bridge is down.”
A few minutes later, the pilot questioned: “What did we do wrong?”
You can read the complete transcripts released by the NTSB online.
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