NTSB

Bright Field Investigation
Final Report

The National Safety and Transportation Board issued its Final Report on the investigation on January 13, 1998.

Note: the link above is to a very large Adobe Acrobat .PDF version of the final report.
It will take quite a while to download on a dial up connection.
The full title of the report is:

National Transportation Safety Board Marine Accident Report
Allison of the Liberian Freighter Bright Field
With the Poydras Street Wharf, Riverwald Marketplace, and
New Orleans Hilton Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana 
December 14, 1996.
The report blames the ship's owner, Clearsky Shipping Co., based in Liberia, for failing to make sure the ship's engine was properly maintained.

Paper copies of the report can be obtained from the NTSB Pubic Inquiry Board. When you call them you must give them the date of the crash (14 December 1996). They distribute copies until they "runout" of their allotment.
Phone (800) 877-6799.

Aditionally, copies may be purchased online from NTIS (National Technical Information Service). Just search for "Bright Field." It is product ID# PB98-916401INF and can be ordered by phone as well as over the internet.

NTSB blames ship owner for New Orleans crash

CNN
January 13, 1998
WASHINGTON (AP) -- It was "just plain luck" that a giant grain carrier missed crowded pleasure ships when it slammed into a New Orleans wharf, the National Transportation Safety Board was told Tuesday.

Sixty-two people were hurt in the December 14, 1996 accident when the grain carrier Bright Field lost power and crashed into a riverfront shopping mall and hotel. No one died in the crash.

The 735-foot ship drifted downstream after its engine cut off, striking the wharf in a 1,000-foot gap between a cruise ship and a casino boat, both of which were crowded with people.

"It was not maneuvered into that position, it was just plain luck," board investigator Marjorie Murtagh reported.

The board placed the blame for the accident on the ship's owner, Clearsky Shipping Co., based in Liberia, for failing to make sure the ship's engine was properly maintained.

The board also was critical of the casino ship and the nearby excursion vessel for having only one gangplank available for people to evacuate as the freighter approached. Some people fell into the water and were injured. The board also said the riverfront hotel and shopping center were built dangerously close to the water and have been rebuilt in the same area. 

Copyright 1998   The Associated Press

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