Concordia News: Please Post Here

I believe it was the black box that was scheduled to be repaired on January 14th:

 

 

 

Here's the link to the full article: http://www.corriere.it/International/english/articoli/2012/07/03/fiorenza-sarzanini.shtml

Thanks CT. I knew something was being repaired. :D

I remember the picture you are talking about. Will try to find it.

Regards,

MorganMars

This was an underwater picture. You could see the large hole, not really in length but in depth. The metal was ripped back, not up as if it happened when the ship capsized. Laying on the seabed were several lounge chairs and the visible hole. I remember asking if anyone thought it was from the crew quarters because it looked like a bed was visible.

I brought the pix to one of the threads but I believe it was one that has been closed.

I remember the picture you are talking about. Will try to find it.

 

Regards,

MorganMars

I tried to find it but no luck.

Is this the one? http://framework.latimes.com/2012/01/14/cruise-ship-runs-aground-off-italy/#/8

This was an underwater picture. You could see the large hole, not really in length but in depth. The metal was ripped back, not up as if it happened when the ship capsized. Laying on the seabed were several lounge chairs and the visible hole. I remember asking if anyone thought it was from the crew quarters because it looked like a bed was visible.

I brought the pix to one of the threads but I believe it was one that has been closed.

I mentioned a few pages back a photograph taken on board Costa Concordia on the 12th January, 2012...24 hours prior to the accident.

 

I have had permission to post it here from the family that is in the photo with Francesco Schettino.

 

The photo is important...the body language, facial expression of Francesco Schettino is not comfortable, almost fearful. He has, in the months since the accident been portayed as someone who loved being infront of a camera lens...this photo shows that for whatever reason, he was not comfortable at all being there.

 

That is the look and body language of a man with alot on his plate, someone who is not comfortable and who is under strain....even overwhelmed by something. It was seconds later that the Chief Engineer took him to one side and spoke to him, the colour drained from his face and he left the area for a time. Prior to the photo, the husband in the photo spoke to him and he said that Francesco came across as if he was pre-occupied and not at all himself. The family had also sailed with him before and noticed a marked change in his demeanor.

 

Remeber, this is 24 hours BEFORE the accident.[/quote

 

He looks alot better in this picture than he does in his thong while on his boat ride celebrating his freedom maybe. I can't believe his arrogance.

In the pic you posted He was probably worried about whether he brought his ****** since domenica was on board.

 

I just can't understand how anyone can try to make excuses for this man, unless you know for a fact, that Costa only hired him because he socialized well with passengers, and thought the other officers would control the ship.

I'm sorry, others may see him as a very confident man, I see him as an arrogant jerk, just to keep it clean, who's luck ran out.

MM, it's very possible that's it. The one you show looks to be a much closer view than the one I remember and this one is much clearer. I just seem to remember the lounge chairs at the bottom of the pix too.

I've edited because I studied the pix again. That is it but it is a closer view.

Hi All

On Friday morning at 8am The massive Micoperi 30 will arive at Giglio. At over 7000 ton with accomodation for over 200, a Hospital, a Gym and two big cranes among other things. The barge has just sailed from Croatia after a major refit. Hopefully this may make progress move a bit faster.

Meanwhile there appears to be a body of opinion in Italy that the stress on the starboard side that will happen when the parbuckle begins will be too great and the starboard side will collapse.

Since the closing down of the Last Salute camera we have to rely on Giglio news for time lapse photography. Last Sunday I emailed Giglio news to ask if the port camera could be turned seaward and give a better view of the salvage. They replied on Sunday that the camera will be moved "in the next few days"

Thank you for the info.

I found this website.

http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/default.aspx?mmsi=247219100&centerx=12.48658&centery=41.30667&zoom=10&type_color=9

Meanwhile there appears to be a body of opinion in Italy that the stress on the starboard side that will happen when the parbuckle begins will be too great and the starboard side will collapse.

The Oceanos which sank off South Africa in the early 90's is laying fully on her side, and they do say that eventually the ship will "pancake" as ships are not made to lie on their sides. 20 years have passed and she has not fully collapsed yet as per the most recent dive reports. The bridge has collapsed but the rest of this old ship is still sitting there in about 100m of water.There are also Youtube videos of it.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1157165

The biggest problem that I have with Schettino and is ability as a Captain...and to a larger degree what was said afterwards by his peers about his ability & performance, it the total ineptitude shown by all those who were critical of him AFTER the event.

It also shows that in some cases being fast tracked through the ranks should NOT be done, Schettino was not full Captain grade, least not on passenger ships. From what has been said, he worked on tankers in the Baltic prior to moving across to passenger vessels.

He was undoubtably a "problem child" on the bridge...taking risks (leaving Marseille in a storm etc), he was flightly, a womaniser (aren't most men given the chance), he probably did not take his responsibility seriously enough (more playboy than Captain) and so forth...the list of "faults" could fill an entire book.

His peers poured out of the woodwork AFTER the accident..."he took risks"..."he was an idiot"..."we knew he wasn't cut out for it"...and so it went on...

Great...fabulous guys...why the hell didn't they warn management BEFORE the accident, when something could have been done...such as retraining, have him work alongside a more senior Captain, demote him, terminate his employment...whatever it took to curb the inner idiot within him?

Whistleblowers are incredibly important in all workplaces, and they must always be listened to and what they have to say must be investigated...especially when there is more than one saying the same or similar things about an individual's performance.

Why did no-one take any notice...or were these senior Captains so intimidated that they were too scared to speak out against this "blue eyed boy" that could apparently do no wrong?

It is the same as on the bridge that night...why didn't someone...ANYONE...shout out "whoa...you cannot do that, Sir"....why?

Workplace intimidation, the feeling of being in awe by this senior officer, and basic lack of communication skills tween the ranks...it MUST stop...it took hundreds and hundreds of lives in the airline industry over 30 years for the fear of speaking out against a senior officer to be a thing of the past...and theair accident rate has largely dropped a a result.

Ship's bridges have absolutely NO PLACE for intimidation tween the ranks...if something is wrong SAY SO...and if the more senior officers see someone doing something risky or idiotic, they MUST stand up and say so before that behaviour manifests itself into being normal and lives are damaged or lost.

Schettino was and is a loose cannon...but he was ALLOWED to be so by his peers, who either turned a blind eye, laughed it off or just plain ignored what he was doing and did not report back to management of their concerns about him.

It was blatantly obvious that each of his peers knew his reputation long before the accident....they should have been man enough to stand up and report him before the accident...and if that meant he lost his qualification, well, sometimes people just aren't cut out for such heavy responsibilities and it would have done everyone a service...including Schettino...for him to have been removed from duty after his first risk take...not waiting til after 32 lives and a ship were lost.

To stay on subject to this thread....

 

Would I sail with Francesco Schettino on the bridge again...absolutely, no hesitation.

 

Have I sailed with him as an officer on the bridge in the past, absolutely. ....

 

The biggest problem that I have with Schettino and is ability as a Captain...and to a larger degree what was said afterwards by his peers about his ability & performance, it the total ineptitude shown by all those who were critical of him AFTER the event.

 

It also shows that in some cases being fast tracked through the ranks should NOT be done, Schettino was not full Captain grade, least not on passenger ships. From what has been said, he worked on tankers in the Baltic prior to moving across to passenger vessels.

 

He was undoubtably a "problem child" on the bridge...taking risks (leaving Marseille in a storm etc), he was flightly, a womaniser (aren't most men given the chance), he probably did not take his responsibility seriously enough (more playboy than Captain) and so forth...the list of "faults" could fill an entire book.

 

His peers poured out of the woodwork AFTER the accident..."he took risks"..."he was an idiot"..."we knew he wasn't cut out for it"...and so it went on...

 

Great...fabulous guys...why the hell didn't they warn management BEFORE the accident, when something could have been done...such as retraining, have him work alongside a more senior Captain, demote him, terminate his employment...whatever it took to curb the inner idiot within him?

 

Whistleblowers are incredibly important in all workplaces, and they must always be listened to and what they have to say must be investigated...especially when there is more than one saying the same or similar things about an individual's performance.

 

Why did no-one take any notice...or were these senior Captains so intimidated that they were too scared to speak out against this "blue eyed boy" that could apparently do no wrong?

 

It is the same as on the bridge that night...why didn't someone...ANYONE...shout out "whoa...you cannot do that, Sir"....why?

 

Workplace intimidation, the feeling of being in awe by this senior officer, and basic lack of communication skills tween the ranks...it MUST stop...it took hundreds and hundreds of lives in the airline industry over 30 years for the fear of speaking out against a senior officer to be a thing of the past...and theair accident rate has largely dropped a a result.

 

Ship's bridges have absolutely NO PLACE for intimidation tween the ranks...if something is wrong SAY SO...and if the more senior officers see someone doing something risky or idiotic, they MUST stand up and say so before that behaviour manifests itself into being normal and lives are damaged or lost.

 

Schettino was and is a loose cannon...but he was ALLOWED to be so by his peers, who either turned a blind eye, laughed it off or just plain ignored what he was doing and did not report back to management of their concerns about him.

 

It was blatantly obvious that each of his peers knew his reputation long before the accident....they should have been man enough to stand up and report him before the accident...and if that meant he lost his qualification, well, sometimes people just aren't cut out for such heavy responsibilities and it would have done everyone a service...including Schettino...for him to have been removed from duty after his first risk take...not waiting til after 32 lives and a ship were lost.

How does your earlier post that you would have no hesitation sailing with the captain again, square with your more recent post which belatedly admits his many faults ?

How does your earlier post that you would have no hesitation sailing with the captain again, square with your more recent post which belatedly admits his many faults ?

Simple...

He is NOT the only Captain to scew up...he is one of the few to get caught.

And I have said all along that he was a loose cannon, that is something well documented by his peers after the event.

Would he be a better Captain after the event?

Debateable...one would hope that he would be and that he had learnt not to be so fast and loose in his decision making...so yes, I would sail with him in charge again, if only to see if his demeanor and ability had been improved.

However...it still stands that the view of the public who sailed with him in the past were on the whole satisfied with how he behaved, none of us were privvy to the inner sanctum of the bridge, nor did we know that his peers were not so enthusiastic about him or his abilities.

To us mere passengers, he "looked" the part and "appeared" to do his job well...who are any of us to question who he is as a person or what his abilities are...we all take it as read that he is a Captain, and Captains do not get their qualifications given free out of cereal packets, they are earned through "we are told" hard work.

Would I sail with him again...yes...cos next time he will be more mindful of what he is doing, and be better prepared...although one can never be 100% prepared, he would be probably less in the public arena and more in the bridge arena.

You still refuse, however, to accept the bigger picture though and that includes the actions of those around him that night AND the peers who complained about him after the event.

It is all important when deciding what happened that night....the actions of one individual do not make an accident happen and if he was as bad as they said he was BEFORE the accident, one must ask why was he allowed to continue in that behaviour, why no-one had the balls to say he needed reassessment or retraining and why everyone simply ignored his behaviour almost hoping he would grow out of it somehow.

We passengers never saw the bad boy behaviour...we never looked for it and we all accept that the Captain knows what he or she is doing without question.

Schettino has learned an very important life lesson...as have many others in this whole sordid affair.

Bottom line is that had his peers stood up and spoken out about their concerns, then maybe...just maybe...this accident could have been avoided.

In the same way that Concordia herself was about to be repaired in Savona on the 14th January, had those repairs been done earlier, maybe she would not have been blacking out as much as she was before the accident.

Here lies another rub...

Who makes the decision to pull a ship out of service for repairs to be made...should Concordia have been taken out of service and repaired fully...rather than have a band-aid arranged for the 14th?

Money....the crux of all dodgy decisions.

Hindsight is wonderful if you get it in advance....

Had the ship been repaired, had the senior captains spoken out about their concerns we might not have even having this conversation.

Life's lessons are leant on the back of mistakes made...there were alot of mistakes that night, all should have been noticed, rectified and all would be wonderful now....but instead they were overlooked, missed, ignored, put off for another time...

C'est la vie....and 32 people paid the ultimate price for something that shouldn't have happened...can't change it, can't bring them back but we can be more mindful and speak out...even as a passenger...if we see a captain or officer behaving in an inappropriate way...we know what to look for now and we have the power within us to speak out...just as the crew now have the impetus to speak out when they see or hear something that makes them uneasy.

It was a hard lesson but one that all crew and all passengers needed to learn.

I'm not afraid to report a crewmember if I think they are acting inappropriately...I have done it in the past and I will do it again if required to do so.

But on the face of it, Schettino gave the appearance of normality, he wasn't behaving in a way that made me question his ability.....his peers questioned it and said nothing...their silence cost lives.

Hi Micki

Thats the site I have been following its journey from Croatia on, Have you noticed that if you click on the arrow on the ID box it gives more info on the barge.If you google Micoperi 30 you can get a photo and much more detail on the barge.

Hi Stan

I know nothing about salvage I'm afraid but the debate seems to be about the stress caused when they right to right her that may be too much for the weakened starboard side and she will rip open.

However the critics of the present plan seem to be lead by someone pushing a plan to fill her with some sort of foam and from that she will right herself. This foam is 60 times lighter than water ! I think they may have a financial interest in the foam application

Simple...

 

He is NOT the only Captain to scew up...he is one of the few to get caught.

 

And I have said all along that he was a loose cannon, that is something well documented by his peers after the event.

 

Would he be a better Captain after the event?

 

Debateable...one would hope that he would be and that he had learnt not to be so fast and loose in his decision making...so yes, I would sail with him in charge again, if only to see if his demeanor and ability had been improved.

 

However...it still stands that the view of the public who sailed with him in the past were on the whole satisfied with how he behaved, none of us were privvy to the inner sanctum of the bridge, nor did we know that his peers were not so enthusiastic about him or his abilities.

 

To us mere passengers, he "looked" the part and "appeared" to do his job well...who are any of us to question who he is as a person or what his abilities are...we all take it as read that he is a Captain, and Captains do not get their qualifications given free out of cereal packets, they are earned through "we are told" hard work.

 

Would I sail with him again...yes...cos next time he will be more mindful of what he is doing, and be better prepared...although one can never be 100% prepared, he would be probably less in the public arena and more in the bridge arena.

 

You still refuse, however, to accept the bigger picture though and that includes the actions of those around him that night AND the peers who complained about him after the event.

 

It is all important when deciding what happened that night....the actions of one individual do not make an accident happen and if he was as bad as they said he was BEFORE the accident, one must ask why was he allowed to continue in that behaviour, why no-one had the balls to say he needed reassessment or retraining and why everyone simply ignored his behaviour almost hoping he would grow out of it somehow.

 

We passengers never saw the bad boy behaviour...we never looked for it and we all accept that the Captain knows what he or she is doing without question.

 

Schettino has learned an very important life lesson...as have many others in this whole sordid affair.

You push the modern neo-liberal matra that individuals are not responsible for their own actions because society caused them to do it.

Anyone who would sail with Schittino at the helm is not playing with a full deck and is tempting fate.

Bad actions by others does not excuse or mitigate the criminal acts of homicide by captain coward. The bad acts of others should require a whole new wing in the prison block for them to share adjoining prison cells with Captain Death.

What frightens me the most is people who think like you are more likely to cause future disasters because they try to find a way to excuse bad actions by some by the bad actions of others out of some misbegotten concept of not wanting to be judgemental.

Your comment: "C'est la vie....and 32 people paid the ultimate price for something that shouldn't have happened" when juxtaposed with your continuing attempt to excuse or mitigate Schittino's actions is unbelievable and outrageous.

This is NOT a situation for C'est la vie (That's life). This is a situation that demands justice in the form of criminal punishment. Your trying to understand, excuse and mitigate captain coward's killing of 32 people is the same reason some women write love letters to imprisoned serial killers.

 

You push the modern neo-liberal matra that individuals are not responsible for their own actions because society caused them to do it.

 

Anyone who would sail with Schittino at the helm is not playing with a full deck and is tempting fate.

 

Bad actions by others does not excuse or mitigate the criminal acts of homicide by captain coward. The bad acts of others should require a whole new wing in the prison block for them to share adjoining prison cells with Captain Death.

 

What frightens me the most is people who think like you are more likely to cause future disasters because they try to find a way to excuse bad actions by some by the bad actions of others out of some misbegotten concept of not wanting to be judgemental.

 

Your comment: "C'est la vie....and 32 people paid the ultimate price for something that shouldn't have happened" when juxtaposed with your continuing attempt to excuse or mitigate Schittino's actions is unbelievable and outrageous.

 

This is NOT a situation for C'est la vie (That's life). This is a situation that demands justice in the form of criminal punishment. Your trying to understand, excuse and mitigate captain coward's killing of 32 people is the same reason some women write love letters to imprisoned serial killers.

I am not mitigating anything, nor am I defending anyone....your obsession is twisting what is said to fit your view.

What I am saying is that had his peers...who were so eager to be critical of him AFTER the event, actually opened their mouths BEFORE the event, we might not have seen 32 people die that night.

It's really easy to accuse someone of being a blithering idiot after the fact...if he was such a blithering idiot WHY DIDN'T SOMEONE...ANYONE..SAY SO BEFORE WE GOT TO THIS STAGE IN THE GAME?

Everyone who worked with him in whatever capacity stands with a degree of culpability for what happened aboard Concordia.

It is ces't la vie that only after the event that people then come out and say "well we always knew he was a fool"....they should have said something long ago, before he was made up to safety officer, before he made staff captain....maybe even before he made 3rd officer if his behaviour and ability was off the mark BUT NO-ONE SAID A WORD they just left him to his own devices and ignored it.

THAT is what is frightening in this who affair...grown men & women who are professionally trained who, for reasons best known to themselves, stood by and said NOTHING when they all seem to be saying that he was not able to carry out his duties and hadn't for some time.

Who as passengers are we meant to trust to take care of us if the idiot behind the wheel has no-one with enough balls to stand up and to stop him?

Why can you not grasp that Uniall?

Why are these well qualified and experienced officers NOT speaking out BEFORE we get this far....WHY????

Now then let us look at a few things here Schettino before joining Costa was a Staff Captain with a Masters Qualification who joined them in 2002, four years later he is promoted to Captain by Costa which in no way is fast tracking!

Those who claim to be speaking out against the mad man Schettino are doing so to hide their own bad judgements and to tow the Corporate line,if the case were different why as CS says did they not speak up? why ? because they had no beef with him prior to the accident and it now makes these people look good by making claims against him.

If you find a person or work practice that someone is continuing to carry out in a dangerous way you do not just let it carry on you do something about it! to allow it to continue makes you as bad or worse than the person doing it and just as dangerous.

Now then let us look at a few things here Schettino before joining Costa was a Staff Captain with a Masters Qualification who joined them in 2002, four years later he is promoted to Captain by Costa which in no way is fast tracking!

 

Those who claim to be speaking out against the mad man Schettino are doing so to hide their own bad judgements and to tow the Corporate line,if the case were different why as CS says did they not speak up? why ? because they had no beef with him prior to the accident and it now makes these people look good by making claims against him.

 

If you find a person or work practice that someone is continuing to carry out in a dangerous way you do not just let it carry on you do something about it! to allow it to continue makes you as bad or worse than the person doing it and just as dangerous.

If you hold one person accountable, then you must hold all those who stood by and watched that person sink deeper and deeper into misjudgement without any form of correction just as accountable...

32 people died as a direct result of well trained and fully qualified officers who worked alongside Schettino from 2002 (if not beforehand) watching him take risk after risk, make mistake after mistake and they did nothing to stop him. They stood by and allowed him to play Russian roulette with lives - including their own - and said nothing, did nothing.

The conspiracy of silence from his critics (read : his peers & fellow officers) before the accident was truly deafening.

Some of you here have i think may have misunderstood the statement by CS regarding the fact that the Concordia accident and Schettino has woken up a sleeping dog so to speak and made people realise that things were not all hunky dory in the cruising world, and as with Titanic it usually takes a number of deaths before action is taken by the appropriate people. A case of action after the Horse has Bolted!

Here are just a few of the many "after the horse has Bolted" changes that were made using Legislation in the UK, brought about by the number of deaths involved.

1959 Hendersons store Fire in Liverpool England, 11 Dead brought about the OSRA (offices,shops and railway premises act)

1969 Rose and Crown Hotel Fire, Safron Waldon, England. 11 Dead brought Hotels and Boarding houses under the Fire precautions act in 1971 which included detailed use of Fire alarm warning systems.

All of them have one thing in common Dead people! and yes just as with Concordia there are people in the few cases mentioned above who were as responsible for those who were killed.

1979 Woolworths store Manchester England 10 Dead killed by smoke inhalation due to the use of Polyeurathane Foam in Furniture which brought about changes that made staff training compulsory re fires, Sprinkler systems in all Department stores compulsory, and a change in the law banning Polyeurathane foam in Furniture.

1985 Bradford City football Club Fire, Bradford England, 56 Dead when a wooden stand caught on Fire, brought about the Safety at sports grounds act.

1987 London Underground Fire, England, 31 Dead including a Senior Fire officer after a fire in a wooden escalator brought about the Fire Prevention Sub Surface Railways Act.

And just as Solas has done with ships they are all sadly rude awakenings after and not before people have been killed and as a result of complacency.

Simple...

 

He is NOT the only Captain to scew up...he is one of the few to get caught.

 

You know what, someone should write a book about all this.....not the Concordia thing, this thread.

So you are saying, without a shred of evidence that many captains have screwed up but have not been caught out. How do you know this, do you have knowledge of these? If not this is just speculation like all the twaddle from all the "experts" that have emerged here over the months.

And it's worth remembering that here anyone can be an expert, legal or technical or whatever.

David.

You know what, someone should write a book about all this.....not the Concordia thing, this thread.

 

 

So you are saying, without a shred of evidence that many captains have screwed up but have not been caught out. How do you know this, do you have knowledge of these? If not this is just speculation like all the twaddle from all the "experts" that have emerged here over the months.

 

And it's worth remembering that here anyone can be an expert, legal or technical or whatever.

 

David.

OK...so you are basically implying that ALL captains & officers except Schettino are 100% perfect and have never had so much as a smudge on their work records...

hmmm...lets see.....Herald of Free Enterprise, Exxon Valdez, Torrey Canyon, Monarch o/t Seas, Sea Diamond...do I have to go find a few more before convincing you that Schettino has not been the only officer to screw it up and in many cases cause deaths whilst their peers stand around watching their mistakes and say NOTHING???

Go tell that to the families of those who died aboard Herald of Free Enterprise, Sea Diamond and all the others that were caused by stupid errors of judgement and basic lack of following rules and regulations.

YOU do NOT KNOW what that captain that you swoon with on formal night aboard your cruise ship is capable of, YOU do NOT KNOW if he/she is competant or if he/she has make errors in the past and been ignored by his/her peers....

If this accident makes Captains more accountable and their qualifications, experience and work records public then fantastic for everyone.

If this accident brings about changes in training, employment checks, procedures then fantasric for everyone.

If this accident brings forth design & build changes to make cruise ships and their operation safer then fantastic for everyone.

But NEVER EVER assume that the bloke in the uniform is perfect, cos they are not...they all have the potential to screw up and when they do it gets ignored...until someone dies and then its all and sundry singing "oh we knew he was an idiot"....

Fantastic....

...Why are these well qualified and experienced officers NOT speaking out BEFORE we get this far....WHY????

After the new safety measures are implemented, and I believe some are already in place, they WILL get a chance to speak out.

From CNN article:

Costa Cruises introduced seven new safety measures over the weekend during a ceremony celebrating the delivery of the company's new $665 million flagship.

 

A new real-time route monitoring system, electronic tracking of guest safety training and changes that will allow more crew members to issue orders, are among the initiatives being adopted by the company in the wake of the Costa Concordia disaster.

 

Under the new rules, Costa cruise guests will receive emergency training before the ship leaves port and officers in uniform must be present during safety training. "This ensures the training has proper solemnity and gives guests an opportunity to ask any questions or express concerns they might have directly with an officer," Costa said in a document outlining the new procedures.

 

At least 30 people were killed when Costa Concordia ran aground on January 13 off the shore of the Italian island of Giglio. Some survivors complained that they had not been instructed in emergency procedures. International regulations require that passengers receive instruction within 24 hours of departure. In February, three cruise industry associations announced new standards exceeding that rule by requiring muster drills before leaving port.

 

Under Costa's new rules, guests will receive an electronic card to be scanned during safety drills. Guests who miss the initial training will be tracked electronically and invited to attend training the following day. Guests who do not attend either session will receive written safety guidelines.

 

Officers will be more involved in decision making under a new bridge management model. "According to the new model, the Captain maintains intervention power as required by law, but is no longer the only person who issues orders," the Costa document said.

 

The Concordia's captain, Francesco Schettino, remains under house arrest while he is investigated for possible criminal charges. He faces allegations of manslaughter, causing the shipwreck, abandoning ship and failing to report the accident.

 

Costa will also limit access to a ship's bridge during critical navigation phases, following a standard established by Cruise Lines International Association last month, and a new monitoring system will allow Costa to control the position and course of all of its ships in real time.

 

The cruise line's new ship, Costa Fascinosa, was delivered in Venice on Saturday, along with sister ship Costa Favolosa. Costa Fascinosa, a $665 million ship that can carry up to 3,800 passengers, is the largest Italian-flagged cruise ship afloat.

 

"The delivery of the Costa Fascinosa is an important stepping stone on our Company's road to recovery," Costa CEO Pier Luigi Foschi said.

http://articles.cnn.com/2012-05-07/travel/travel_costa-cruises-safety-measures_1_costa-cruises-safety-training-italian-flagged?_s=PM:TRAVEL

After the new safety measures are implemented, and I believe some are already in place, they WILL get a chance to speak out.

 

From CNN article:

 

 

 

http://articles.cnn.com/2012-05-07/travel/travel_costa-cruises-safety-measures_1_costa-cruises-safety-training-italian-flagged?_s=PM:TRAVEL

Great...but that still doesn't answer why these officers and crew seemed to be struck dumb about Schettino's abilities and behaviour BEFORE the accident.

Were these people so intimidated that they were scared to speak out and tell management that Schettino was no good at his job and that he took too many risks?

Well....those officers have to join Schettino in our condemnation of this accident, they are all as accountable for what happened as Schettino himself....

This is what I have tried to get over from the start...the lack of ability to stand up and report another officer's mistakes, to question actions taken, even to take over command from that person in order to avoid a tragedy.

Why does it ALWAYS take someone dying before people have the balls to speak out the truth about a person's work record, ability and behaviour?

On board Concordia that night there were THREE captains...THREE.

Schettino, the Staff Captain and another Captain from Costa Serena who was deadheading to Savona, off duty but still capable of going to the bridge when things started collapsing and taking command of the situation.

Chances were given and missed to stop this tragedy.....and 32 died as a result.

Schettino is a tiny part of what went wrong that night...hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil is absolutely right.....many people saw it, heard it but they did not call out on it...all must take a measure of culpability for what they all did that night and in the years since 2002 when Schettino was seen and heard making errors of judgement.

Hey CS or SM -- not sure what your moniker is,

OT, I know, but since your background is in aviation safety, I wanted to get your thoughts on this Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-400 incident that occurred yesterday. Aren't these planes prone to electrical problems? Why are they still flying?

http://overheadbin.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/08/13183386-alaska-airlines-flight-diverts-after-mid-air-electrical-problems?lite

Hey CS or SM -- not sure what your moniker is,

 

OT, I know, but since your background is in aviation safety, I wanted to get your thoughts on this Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-400 incident that occurred yesterday. Aren't these planes prone to electrical problems? Why are they still flying?

 

http://overheadbin.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/08/13183386-alaska-airlines-flight-diverts-after-mid-air-electrical-problems?lite

Alaska had a bad day it seems, what with this one and the other with a corner broken off the corner of a wing assembly with a handwritten note saying that the "they" knew about it.

It is hard to say without alot more details, but something that will be looked at with the B734 incident noted in your link is if any ground maintenance was done immediately prior to the flight, if there has been any previous incidences on that particular aircraft of similar failures or defect notifications. The masks not coming down and the lack of pressurisation...Alaska sadly have a choppy record in regard to safety. Maintenance has come under heavy scrutiny in the past (after at least one fatal accident), so that is likely to be the starting point for this incident.

Fair play to the crew who realised a problem existed and successfully dealt with it...had they not done so, it could have gone the way of the Helios flight a few years ago, total hypoxia due to the pressurisation switch being left in the wrong position that ended with the flight going into the hills above Athens with the loss of everyone on board.