Names and Faces
You Can't Know the Players Without a Program
Following is a list of names of people with a brief description of their position or involvement in the crash or investigation. Photos of many of the "players' will be made available as time permits. This list should be a great resource to those involved in the investigations.
The names will presented by group. Note - Netscape and some other browsers will allow your to search this page for a name (use Netscape "Find" command)
U.S. Coast Guard
- Lt. Cmdr. Doug Blakemore - monitored grain unloading
- Rear Admiral James C. Card - testified (1993 Coast Guard and congressional hearing in Baton Rouge on Riverboat gambling) that every 7 days a foreign vessel loses steerage in the heavily traveled river
- Cmdr. Gilbert Canazawana executive officer of the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office in New Orleans, Dec 15 T-P (same as Kanazawa below)
- First Class Petty Officer Patrick Cuty - involved at the crash site and in the moving of the Bright Field
- Mike Doyle - witnessed accident from "Governor Nick" (a C.G. traffic light / bird nest), resident of Algiers, 48 years of age.
- Lt. Keith Fordham - U.S. Coast Guard 8th District Marine Safety Office in New Orleans, was interviewed for Dec 22 Flagging article
- Lt. Vern Gifford, discussing 100 ship power failures a year in the area in Dec 15 T-P
- Lt. Lonnie Harrison - marine inspector, reported stoppage of off-loading the corn due to water damage
- Petty Officer Arron Holton - involved in moving the Bright Field
- Petty Officer Tyler Johnson - reported on the corn off-loading
- Cmdr. Gilbert Kanazawa - on site for Jan 6 move (See Canazawana above)
- Capt. Gordon Marsh - PHOTO commander of the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office, in news briefing said not uncommon for ships to lose power in the river
- Cmdr. Ken Parris - boarded the Bright Field within 2 hours of crash to collect evidence
- Capt. Tony Regalbuto - involved in the hearing
- Lt. Curtis Shaw - Coast Guard Marine Safety Office- involved in gradually increasing draft of ships allowed to pass after the accident
- Lt. Cmdr. Daniel Whiting - chief of port operations for Coast Guard in New Orleans
Bright Field
- Ted Davisson - Pilot
- Deng Jing Quan - Chinese captain
- Fang Jim Yun - Chief Engineer
- Guo Guang Qin - 2nd Engineer
- Zhang Bin - 3rd Engineer
- Li Long-Jiang - Carpenter, was Lookout on Duty Dec 14 for near-miss and crash
- Li Hai-Ying - Helmsman on Duty Dec 14
- Capt. Mark Delesdernier of Crescent River Boat Pilots - piloted Bright Field out of the wreckage Jan 6
NTSB - National Transportation Safety Board
- Rob Henry - active in the hearing
- John Hammerschmidt - member - see Dec 17 Coast Guard Inspection article
- Marjorie Murtagh - investigator (in Jan 7 newsclip)
Crescent Towing
- Charlie Andrews - president
- Roy Spencer - Dispatcher on duty at crash
Port of New Orleans
- J. Ron Brinson - Port President
- J. Robert Jumonville - Deputy Port Director of Corporate Affairs - dealt with cruise ship distress tests (sirens)
- Edward Reed - former Port Director who led effort to keep barges out of the area during the 1984 World's Fair
City of New Orleans
- Rep. Billy Tauzin - outspoken for removing casino boats from heavy traffic areas of river
- Mayor Mark Morial - Mayor of New Orleans
- Superintendent Warren McDaniels chief of New Orleans Fire Dept
- Robert Martin - Risk Manager for City of New Orleans
- New Orleans Councilwoman Peggy Wilson - rushed to the scene
- Mike Hoctel - Harbor Police Officer (see Dec 15 T&P) was on scene early
Individual Eye Witnesses to the crash
Interviewed in the T&P Dec 15 edition
Annette Angelle, Breaux Bridge resident, Christmas Shopping
Sandy Aubert, sports and copy editor for Times-Picayune, was on the Flamingo
Eve Catanese, manager of store called, Foot Traffic, sounded the initial alarm in the Mall.
Richmond Davis, on the Flamingo, he leaped from the 2nd deck during the crash.
Joan Dieckman, tourist from Washington State, lunching in the Food Court
Mike Dunuck, Michigan resident, playing cards on the Flamingo
Ronald Edwards, a mall custodian. Was being searched for by his aunt Pearl Cantrelle
Natasha James, working in Perfumania
Marshal Jones, was leaving the Flamingo
Kristi Kohlman, in Foot Locker with her mother
Whitneyu Pajeaud PHOTO - 10 year old girl that broke her foot, Her Aunt, Antoinette Curtis PHOTO - helped her out of the hospital. She was briefly separated from her mother, Paulette Pajeaud, during the crash and a friend, Norris Grimes, helped get them back together.
Leigh Ann Ripka 9 year old member of the Lafayette childrens choir? She was in a fudge store.
Mary Rita looking for her 6 year old daughter who may have been there with her grandmother.
Nicole Trufant, salesperson in Foot Traffic store.
U.S.L. Lafayette childrens choir of 52 members. Were caroling at Canal Place.
Bolard Marine in Violet (repair site)
- Joseph Ruppel - company chairman
- J.W. Ervin - Boiler Maker Superintendent (Feb 7)
- Charlie Kerns - Foreman (Feb 7)
Riverwalk Area Personnel
- Riverwalk
- Brian Lade - Vice President & General Manager
- International Rivercenter Inc. - built the Riverfront project
- Lester Kabacoff - top executive, 83 year old New Jersey native, former Wall Street Lawyer, settled in New Orleans during WWII
- Hilton Hotel
- Paul Buckley - General Manager, part of his family was thought to be trapped in the rubble for a while
- Flamingo Casino
- Duncan McKenzie, president of the Flamingo (Dec 15 article)
- Rouse Corporation - lease development from International Rivercenter Inc
- Cathy Lickteig - Rouse Corp. spokesperson on safety planning after the disaster
- Steven Sachs - Risk Manager
Pac Brian Industrial Divers - patching the ship
- Pac Brian - president
- Rick Buhrnes - a diver. He was caught in the debris once
Interviewees for the Dec 22 Foreign Controversy - Foreign Flagged Vessels article.
- David Sears - professor at California Maritime Institute, Vallejo CA
- Ron Davis - Gulf Coast Vice President of Maritime Engineers Beneficial Association in New Orleans a labor union
- Channing Hayden - President of New Orleans Steamship Association
- Nick Hajdu - New Orleans engineer
- J. Kelly Duncan - Maritime Lawyer and partner in Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrere & Denegre a New Orleans firm
- Jack Levine - President of Associated Branch Pilots in New Orleans
- Joe Abshneider - principal surveyor of American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) in New Orleans
- Lt. Keith Fordham - U.S. Coast Guard 8th District Marine Safety Office in New Orleans
- Ed Barr - Maritime business veteran and retired executive director of New Orleans Board of Trade
Lawyers and Judges
- Bob Barnett - attorney for state river pilots agency. Discovered the "missing page" in engine logbook
- Daniel Becnel filed class action lawsuit on behalf of mall business owners - See Dec 20 Engine Logbook article
- Joseph M. Bruno, attorney at Bruno & Bruno represents plantifs (business owners) in suit against Bright Field owners.
- Walter Lejier - one of 8 attorneys filing Dec 16 suit in Federal Court in New Orleans in behalf of business owners, residents of One River Place, and owner of a car that fell from a parking garage to the river.
- Judge Livaudais - federal Judge granted injunction to prevent disassembly of equipment on the vessel by COSCO
- James Roussel - represented ship owners at hearing
Insurance Representatives
- Kenneth Norman - represents West of England P&I Club (Protection & Indemnity) - liability insurer of Bright Field
St Bernard Parish Fire Dept (responded to B.F. Fire on Feb 18)
- Thomas Stone - PHOTO Fire Chief
- Michael Binder - Fireman injured in B.F. Fire (Feb 20)
Reporters and Photographers
- Times Picayune - New Orleans Newspaper
- Craig LeBan
- Steve Cannizaro
- Pamela Coyle
- Frank Donz
- Petula Dvorak
- Stephani Grace
- Chris Gray
- Vicki Hyman
- Mary Judice
- Glen Justice
- John Hall
- Ronette King
- Laura Myers
- Manuel Roig-Franzia
- Christopher Rose
- James Varney
- Matt Scallan
- Mark Schleifstein
- Coleman Warner
- Joanna Weiss
- James Welsh
- Stewart Yerton
- Tara Young
- Bryan S. Bertaux
- Andrew K. Boyd - photographer
- Ric Francis - photographer
- Ted Jackson - photographer
- Eliot Kamenitz - photographer
- Michael DeMocker - photographer
- Susan Poag - photographer
- Matt Rose - photographer
- Jennifer Zdon - photographer - photographer
- Kansas City Star
- Benita Y. Williams - Kansas City Star reporter did a story that appeared in 22 Dec Times-Picayune about an Overland Park Kansas Lady that was trapped in the Hilton Hotel
Miscellaneous
- Robert Barnett - spokesman for New Orleans- Baton Rouge Steamship Pilot Commission
- Robert Becker - Audubon Institute executive, was deputy planning director when the Hilton complex was proposed
- Bob Darcey - Deputy Chief of New Orleans Fire Dept. Was involved in determining the stability of the structure if the ship was moved after the crash
- Joe Clayton - president of NOBRA, New Orleans Baton Rouge Association (river pilots)
- Capt. Mark Delesdernier of Crescent River Boat Pilots - piloted Bright Field out of the wreckage Jan 6
- Allan Eskew - an architect who helped design the World's Fair International Pavillion over portions of the Poydras Street Wharf
- Robert Garcia - a technical advisor on site involved in inspecting the ship for temporary repairs and moving it
- Rachel Gifford and Lori Martin - two women in the Hilton Hotel, see 22 Dec Times-Picayune article by Kansas City Star reporter.
Rachel, of Overland Park KS, was trapped in her room a while
- John Granito - PHOTO marine safety consultant, helped the Port of New Orleans prepare for Riverboat gambling. Now involved in studying safety systems for the pier and is to conduct a public hearing in January.
- Clark Hawley - veteran paddlewheel boat captain, interviewed in "Built in Harms Way" Dec 22 article
- Allan Holbert - spokesman for Cargill Inc, they owned the corn on the ship
- Bill Langkopp, President of the Greater New Orleans Hotel and Motel Assoc (Dec 15 article)
- Donald Makofsky, of Morphy Makofsky Inc.. Spoke on the stability of the wreckage structure in Jan 8 newsclip
- Bert Mothershead - manager of Sharper Image, store relocated right after crash
- Silas Nunn - shipping consultant, member of Committee for Elimination of Sub-Standard Ships - see Dec 17 C.G. Inspection article
- Don Scafidi - Operations Manager at Morill & Associates who gave a tug boat $/per hour cost estimate in an article
- Alex Shandrowsky - president of Marine Engineers Beneficial Association - see Dec 17 C.G. Inspection article
- Capt. Bobby Solar - local river pilot. The Times-Picayune rode down the river with him for a story on the Nord Jahre Target, a Norwegian Tanker
- Sam Samona - Assistant Vice President of Kerr Norton, the marine agent representing the Bright Field after the crash
- Deacon Gilbert Smith - Director the Stella Maris Maritime Center which took some games and National Geographic magazines to the stranded, bored Bright Field crew . see bored article Dec 28
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