Staten Island Ferry Accident Sentencing

More than two years after the Anthony J. Barberi ferry crashed into wood pilings at the Staten Island Ferry's St. George Ferry Terminal, the ferry's pilot and supervisor were sentenced to prison yesterday. Assistant Captain Richard J. Smith, the pilot, was sentenced to 18 months and ferry supervisor Patrick Ryan was sentenced to 366 days. Smith had been tired and was on various medications during the crash; shortly after, he tried to kill himself. He pleaded guilty last year (to seaman's manslaughter), and expressed his guilt and admitted his responsibility in front of the judge yesterday. Ryan was reprimanded for not following a two-pilot rule for ferry ships. The judge noted that Smith and Ryan did not mean to kill, not requiring heavier sentences, but apparently the sentences were longer than what probation officials recommended. Up next will be how much the city will be liable for in the victims' and victims' families' civil suits.

The SILive.com has extensive background on the crash, including the National Transportation Safety Board's report, profiles of victims, and articles about the investigation and survivors. The crash on October 15, 2003 killed 11 and seriously injured over 70 people among the 1,500 passengers, and it was a horrifying, grisly-looking scene. And here's the city's website about the Staten Island Ferry.