Pilot thrown under the um, bus

[Andy Newell]

Sounds like the state board of pilots are trying to distance themselves from the screw ups. The captain was on a sat phone at the time of the incident. That's not legal on the road unless he was 'hands free'

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/articl...sh-4410899.php

[Runs_with_sissors]

Better than under the boat, I suppose

[Sanity Check]

Sounds like the state board of pilots are trying to distance themselves from the screw ups. The captain was on a sat phone at the time of the incident. That's not legal on the road unless he was 'hands free'

I find it difficult to feel any sympathy for the pilot in this case. The state board's action seems completely justified and unsurprising.

The pilots get paid like corporate executives to not screw up, ever. (Okay, thoughts of corporate executives start to make me feel a bit more sympathetic).

One thing I particularly don't like about the story -- and I don't have information that wasn't in the newspapers, so feel free to add anything that would justify the pilot's actions -- but he made a last-minute decision to change which bridge span he was going to pass under and turned the ship just before the collision.

(No doubt some may disagree, but I'm of the strong opinion that pilots should studiously avoid ever steering their boats through spans other than A-B and D-E unless conditions really demand it. Those areas should be left for small boats, which can fit through them with plenty of room for error.)

I've had the experience while struggling against an unfavorable ebb in the shadow of the C tower to see a ship suddenly turns to starboard to blast through B-C span. There was no obstruction D-E or A-B at the time and no reason I could think of for the ship to pass through a span which offered such minimal clearance for it compared to the others.

In any case some small boat skippers would rather monitor channel 14 -- which I wasn't doing that day -- and plan their transit under the bridge with knowledge aforehand of oncoming traffic, and last minute changes seems hightly suspect.

I don't know what made the pilot change his mind, but the fact that the same pilot has been involved in several other incidents and questions about his health justifies the board action.