Does anyone else not piling on the Concordia Captain

[WDWKevin]

One thing I will say, I went to the YouTube link (http://www.youtube.com/user/davesfx?feature=watch) that DCLSecondChance put in the thread and the evac of the ship at that point looked very calm and organized. Also, when people were leaving the dining room in the dark, it looked very orderly. Nothing like the "panic and chaos" the media has reported.

I agree with what some have said, the truth is in the middle. Just today it is reported that Costa allowed the Captain to go close into shore as long as he deemed it safe. This is a change from the beginning of the incident. The black box will tell all. It records the voices from the bridge so we will then know if he was at the helm or not, and what orders he gave.

 

[jdb in AZ]

One thing I will say, I went to the YouTube link (http://www.youtube.com/user/davesfx?feature=watch) that DCLSecondChance put in the thread and the evac of the ship at that point looked very calm and organized. Also, when people were leaving the dining room in the dark, it looked very orderly. Nothing like the "panic and chaos" the media has reported.

I agree with what some have said, the truth is in the middle. Just today it is reported that Costa allowed the Captain to go close into shore as long as he deemed it safe. This is a change from the beginning of the incident. The black box will tell all. It records the voices from the bridge so we will then know if he was at the helm or not, and what orders he gave.

The captain claims the black box broke two weeks ago and Costa hadn't bothered to get it fixed.

 

[WDWKevin]

The captain claims the black box broke two weeks ago and Costa hadn't bothered to get it fixed.

Nice.

 

[DCLSecondChance]

One thing I will say, I went to the YouTube link (http://www.youtube.com/user/davesfx?feature=watch) that DCLSecondChance put in the thread and the evac of the ship at that point looked very calm and organized. Also, when people were leaving the dining room in the dark, it looked very orderly. Nothing like the "panic and chaos" the media has reported.

I agree with what some have said, the truth is in the middle. Just today it is reported that Costa allowed the Captain to go close into shore as long as he deemed it safe. This is a change from the beginning of the incident. The black box will tell all. It records the voices from the bridge so we will then know if he was at the helm or not, and what orders he gave.

What is so odd is how quickly the president of Costa threw the captain under the bus. When have you ever seen a CEO/President of a company come out and make such statements? Usually it is "We are saddened by the tragic loss of life, and are cooperating fully with the investigation." and then silence for months if not years. I really find it all suspect.

There have been many in this thread using the media as basis for their feelings and talking about the fact that the deputy mayor of the island was able to get on board. I believe at the time he got on board, the ship was not listing as much as it was at the time of the phone calls between the captain and the Coast Guard.

 

[pxlbarrel]

I believe the interview with the deputy mayor of the island said that when he boarded the ship, there was no panic and everybody was relatively calm UNTIL the ship started to list. From that statement, I think it's clear that he boarded the ship before conditions on the ship became dire. However we don't know when the captain and his officers abandoned the ship so we cannot assume that he's either off or on at the time the deputy mayor boarded it. We do know that the deputy mayor says he was unable to find any officers on board except a junior second class officer who assisted him with the passengers. Of course, just because he couldn't find anybody doesn't mean they weren't there.

And again, it doesn't matter. He's still off the ship before most of his passengers were off. Perhaps it's worse for him if he's gone before it starts to list but he's still off the ship while the evacuation is still going on. Did he trip into a lifeboat? Or was he thrown into the water by the listing ship? I suppose we'll find out when the investigation begins but it's way too convenient that he and his second officer both fell into a lifeboat.

The abandonment of his ship is only one of the serious charges against this man. The first he still has to answer to is driving his ship into a rock. It's one thing to be accused of being a coward but it's another thing to be accused of negligently steering your ship too close to shore. His actions after he hit the rock (steering the ship around and about to slow it down and getting closer to shore) may or may not have saved lives but you still have to consider that if he hadn't have hit the rock in the first place, such actions wouldn't have been required.

To me that's the part of this incident that I cannot get past. You can argue that stress, cowardice, panic, luck, bad sea legs, any excuses as to why he's not on the ship afterwards but none of those excuses explains why the captain of that ship steered a perfectly working cruise ship into a rock. If the circumstances had turned out differently and the ship was still upright but had a big hole in it, all passengers safe and sound ... I would still hold that man accountable for running into a rock. Accidents are not just accidents when they can be prevented. I feel sorry for him.... I do but it's because in a moment of stupidity, he managed to kill some people, scuttle his ship, ruin his career and cause terror amongst the surviving passengers. I do not think for an instant that he meant to do all that so his conscience must be heavy. However, my sympathy for his heavy heart only goes so far. At the end of the day, it was his ship, his responsbility and and his reckless actions that initiated all the events that followed. And I'm repeating myself again... and again....

 

[ccourtney]

What is so odd is how quickly the president of Costa threw the captain under the bus. When have you ever seen a CEO/President of a company come out and make such statements? Usually it is "We are saddened by the tragic loss of life, and are cooperating fully with the investigation." and then silence for months if not years. I really find it all suspect.

There have been many in this thread using the media as basis for their feelings and talking about the fact that the deputy mayor of the island was able to get on board. I believe at the time he got on board, the ship was not listing as much as it was at the time of the phone calls between the captain and the Coast Guard.

Do you really think anything after "the captain jumped into a lifeboat and left the ship, crew and passengers he was responsible for in mortal peril" is going to make him look any worse? I don't care what Carnival said or if the mayor got on or not. The captain left the ship. Nobody is lucky enough to just fall into a lifeboat while a ship is sinking. I don't care if the captain couldn't get back on the ship. He should've never left in the first place.

If you and your family or anyone you cared about had been on this ship, you you be defending this man's actions?

 

[DCLSecondChance]

If you and your family or anyone you cared about had been on this ship, you you be defending this man's actions?

Sorry but I do not deal in what ifs or speculation. I say again I am just not joining the ones who are piling on the captain based on rampant rumors and speculation.

 

[ccourtney]

Sorry but I do not deal in what ifs or speculation. I say again I am just not joining the ones who are piling on the captain based on rampant rumors and speculation.

I'm not going to argue with you because thats not why I come here and there seems to be too much arguing going on lately. I respect your choice not to be judgemental. I have formed my opinion based on facts and what I feel a professional should have done in this situation. I do not feel this captain acted professionally first by steering a ship into rocks and and then leaving his ship instead of remaining to do everything possible to help those passengers. That was his responsibility. His actions led to people dying. He should be held accountable. I'm sure he didn't mean for any of this to happen but it still did due to his irresponsibility.

 

[TLSnell1981]

So, the captain AND his senior officers "fell" into the same lifeboat?

 

[DCLSecondChance]

Here is an interesting perspective from an expert regarding the other side of the story.

http://gcaptain.com/in-defense-of-captain-schettino-the-lives-he-did-save/?37994

 

[extechie rbd/wdt]

Here is an interesting perspective from an expert regarding the other side of the story.

http://gcaptain.com/in-defense-of-captain-schettino-the-lives-he-did-save/?37994

To answer a couple of the responses there:

Firstly, he could oversea the evac from a lifeboat, but being onboard would give him a more immediate observation of what was happening as a posed to it being relayed to hum via radio.
Also a Fire Chief don't enter burning building's to co-ordinate the rescue, as they are not "usually" already in there at the immediate scene of the disaster, nor have they "usually caused the building to burn in the first place.
Captain Schettino was there until he "fell" into a lifeboat and was "unable to get back aboard before it was lowered" by all account's...... Hmmmm

As for not calling MayDay.
He didn't know the extent of the damage to his vessel due to that lack of command he had over his Officers.
Why was the investigation into a breach of the hull not immediate and the result of the inspection immediately relayed back to him?
Was he too busy ordering his evening meal and entertaining his Guest?

From what I have read the Crew did an amazing job at getting everyone they could off the ship.

Still confused by your defense of the Capt. DCLSecondChance.

Ex Techie

 

[MrsScooby]

Here is an interesting perspective from an expert regarding the other side of the story.

http://gcaptain.com/in-defense-of-captain-schettino-the-lives-he-did-save/?37994

well interesting is right...I don't agree with most of it though. Just seems like the writer is trying desperately to spin the facts to "save" the captain.

Having a calm captain is great if he is doing what he is suppose to do, but I just don't believe the falling into a lifeboat story and the need to not send out a call for mayday because you don't want to panic passengers.
Crazy, the ship is listing and the coastguard have to find out about it from the family of a passenger

Does some measure of the blame fall on the company?...well, probably, yeah.
How much of the blame will hopefully come out in an investigation.
But I just don't see how the captain can be excused when the lives lost were mostly, if not all, his fault.

JMHO

 

[grits98]

No he is not. I am saying I refuse to believe what the media is saying he has been saying in court. It was an ACCIDENT!!!

OP: You seem to be very angry about this. Even if I were to accept all of your statements as true (which I do not), how can you not be saddened and amazed at the extremely cavalier and nonchalant attitude of the captain? Surely, by now, you have read the direct transcripts of the conversations between the captain and the Coast Guard. Although you claim to be waiting until all the information is in before making a judgment regarding the captain's complicity in this incident, you are (whether intentional or not) clearly making an argument that the captain is innocent of wrongdoing. It makes me more than a little concerned that, as a pilot and similarly responsible for people's lives while they are traveling, you are quick to blame an accident when something terrible happens. I'm not saying you have done so, but I am rather curious why you are so angry about people's frustrations with the captain of the ship?

 

[stitchlovestink]

I am beginning to think u r related to the captain

While I find this to be a horribly tragic situation that has actually brought tears to my eyes when I read about it...

the above post actually made me LOL!


Personally, I think he should be taken to sea and dropped in the water without a lifevest or lifeboat and let him feel some of the panic those poor souls that were stuck within the sunken boat for days felt before being rescued.