Again, a moment to pause & appreciate the cool professionalism of those in & around the Key Bridge at 1:24 am Tuesday. Ship’s pilot radios in that ship has lost steerage & will hit bridge. Someone (maritime control?) transmits urgent alert to Maryland/Balt police dispatch… —>
@cfishman @JohnJHarwood I get the intent here; yes, we should applaud how quickly police moved to shut down the bridge. But the video clearly shows vehicles crossing seconds before impact. Did the ship lose steerage before 1:24? Mayday come too late? We should reserve praise/blame until we know more.
@KavehAFarzad @JohnJHarwood The people on land had 90 sec to 2 min to shut the bridge down. The people on the ship—we'll know more about what they faced soon enough from NTSB. I was struck by crisp response on shore — no arguing, just moving quickly, in the middle of the night, to take dramatic action.
@cfishman @KavehAFarzad @JohnJHarwood Maybe there should be emergency closure gates on all these large bridges, so they could be closed with just a push of a button.
@cfishman @KavehAFarzad @JohnJHarwood 100% agree. That they were able to save anyone at all by such swift action is beyond amazing.
@cfishman @KavehAFarzad @JohnJHarwood Like you stated "Government works"
@cfishman @KavehAFarzad @JohnJHarwood Even with a few drivers on (who could’ve been on before it was blocked or went around in spite of blockades), it was still an amazing job to do. I don’t think people realize the volume of traffic that moves through there at all hours. It’s not some back road. It’s an interstate.