Ferry Pilot Smith Confesses Guilt;
Manager Ryan Indicted, Suspended
By Henry J. Stern
August 5, 2004

Yesterday was judgment day for the first of the Ferryboat Five.

Assistant Captain Michael Smith took the main fall for the Staten Island ferry disaster, pleading guilty to eleven counts of manslaughter for falling asleep at the switch. He and his physician were also accused of lying in certifying that he was not taking prescription medicine when he applied to renew the Coast Guard for a license. Captain Michael J. Gansas was charged with lying to investigators, but not manslaughter.

Smith's boss, Director of Ferry Operations Patrick Ryan, was also charged with eleven counts of manslaughter, as well as obstruction of justice and lying to the Coast Guard. He and his assistant and brother-in-law, John Mauldin, were suspended with pay by New York City's Department of Transportation. The Sun quotes the city's corporation counsel as saying, "We do not believe that Captain Ryan was guilty of manslaughter. ... Patrick Ryan has been a respected and loyal employee who brought about many improvements to the ferry over his long history of service."

Newsday reports that DOT Commissioner Iris Weinshall declined to comment on the indictments. No negative inference should be drawn from her refusal to comment. The corporation counsel forbids people whom it is representing from making statements to the media, since what they say could affect pending litigation in a manner adverse to the city.

The Daily News, in a page 4 story by Bob Port not available on its website, described Ryan as "a survivor of tough ferry politics who is now fighting to stay out of jail." The News alleges that "Port Captain John Mauldin, who was indicted yesterday as well, is Ryan's brother-in-law. (Ryan) is despised by some ferry workers who have dared to challenge him on the docks. Two were beaten up by co-workers when they aired complaints. One sued the city and won. Another, a ship captain, sued and settled out of court.

"(Commissioner Weinshall's) office defended the decision to name Ryan to an $89,000-a-year post in charge of ferries in 2001, saying he got the job 'based upon his maritime abilities, his years of experience and knowledge of Staten Island ferry operations.' Ryan began working for the ferry in 1979 as a deck hand. He rose through the ranks and first became director of ferries in 1994.

"But he was demoted back to his civil service job as ship captain after city investigators caught him, on videotape, chauffering his then-girlfriend to her job in a city vehicle on city time while his state driver's license was suspended.

"Three times since Ryan took command of the ferry, the city comptroller's office has blasted the city Transportation Department for allowing nepotism and overtime abuses to flourish on the docks. Each time, the audits traced the problem to Ryan.

"His lawyer defended him yesterday. 'I just think it's most unfortunate that Pat Ryan has been charged with manslaughter,' attorney Thomas Fitzgerald said. 'This is a person who, I believe, events will show performed his job conscientiously and carefully."

Several questions arise in following up on the investigation. The U.S. attorney may already have looked into this, and not yet disclosed the answers.

1) Who re-appointed Ryan in 2001, and was that person aware of his past record in the agency? Were any public officials or political leaders involved in recommending him, in 1994 and in 2001?

I know from experience that sometimes personnel decisions are not made within the affected agency. One should not assume without knowledge who is responsible. But to hire someone who lost the same job for bad conduct is most unusual. Even if the charges against Ryan were withdrawn or dismissed, were not the underlying facts true? Were there no experienced ferry managers who did not have these ethical issues, and who had no connection with ferry employees being physically attacked on the docks?

2) After Ryan was appointed, to whom did he report? How often did he meet with his supervisor? Did Ryan prepare written reports of what he was doing, what problems he had encountered. and what was the status of his efforts to deal with them? Did his supervisor give him any instructions on managing the ferries? Who appointed the supervisor, and what were his credentials?

To quote from Thursday's Times, "(United States Attorney Roslynn) Mauskopf was scathing yesterday in her criticism of Mr. Ryan, saying his lapses included a failure to enforce the two-pilot rule, a long-standing policy that she says could have prevented the crash. 'This was a tragedy waiting to happen,' she said. 'The crash of the Barberi had foreseeable causes that Patrick Ryan saw and ignored.'"

What happened here is outrageous. Airplanes with dozens of passengers have co-pilots. Yet a ferryboat that could have thousands aboard has only one man at the wheel. Even if Captain Smith were healthy and not taking medication, he could still have had a sudden heart attack or a stroke. Basic concern for passenger safety, as well as common sense, require that someone be on hand to take the wheel in such an eventuality. Clark Whelton has made a practical suggestion: put in a dead man's throttle - so if the man steering becomes incapacitated and cannot exert pressure on the wheel, the boat's engines would stop and an alarm would ring. That plan involves no increase for the cost of labor.

The city's capable and hard-working corporation counsel, Michael A. Cardozo, is in a difficult legal situation. It is beyond doubt that the disaster was caused by the negligence, at least, of city employees. Mr. Cardozo has tried to settle the lawsuits on reasonable terms. But the total claims so far are an astronomical 3.2 billion dollars. The city must not be allowed to be brought to, or over, the brink of bankruptcy by a single accident. Hopefully, maritime law will limit the city's liability to the value of the ferryboat, said to be 14 million dollars. Since the accident, the Andrew J. Barberi (the boat was named for a Staten Island high school football coach) has been repaired.

The plaintiffs' lawyers may try to climb the food chain to place responsibility on other city officials, in an effort to secure punitive damages under which their clients would be further enriched at public expense. I suggested back in October that these accident cases should be handled together, with any recovery divided proportionately to the injuries received by each victim. It would be wrong for one plaintiff to do much better, or worse, than the others simply because he/she had a more able, or less able, attorney. The issues of consolidation and limitation of liability should be considered before any trials are held.

It is a shame that, under our gladiatorial practices of determining tort liability, even in cases like this one where the facts are relatively undisputed, the measure of damages should depend on the attorneys' ability to paint a pathetic picture of his/her client. But, under current law, that is the American way of determining these issues. Can you imagine how much Senator John Edwards could extract from a jury dealing with this fact situation?

All five dailies featured the ferry story prominently. There are so many press clips that we have listed them below, by newspaper, rather than embedding them in the narrative.

The Times, at the top of page A1, in "Ferry Director Is Charged by U.S. in Fatal Accident," by Michael Luo, analyzes the charges. It describes the prosecution as "an unusual, two-pronged approach to one of the worst mass transit catastrophes in New York City's history," referring to the charge of 'seamen's manslaughter,' a little-known law dating back to 1838 now leveled against the ferries' operations director, Patrick Ryan, and the Barberi's pilot, Richard Smith.

The News, on its cover, ran pictures of ten of the victims. The banner headline: "THREE MONTHS FOR EACH LIFE." Pages 4 and 5 were entirely devoted to the story, with the lead by John Mazzulla and Corky Ciemaszko, interviews with victims' families by Kathleen Lucadamo and Dave Goldiner, rider comments by David Saltonstall, City Hall bureau chief, and Bob Port's article on Patrick Ryan, quoted at length on page 1 of this article.

Newsday, which has had intense coverage of the ferry tragedy, led with the story on page A1 and a banner headline, "I Was Reckless." It includes three pieces, on A4 and A5: a news story by Anthony M. DeStefano, "Pilot Admits he cause crash," focusing on Smith's confession, a news story by Graham Rayman, "An indictment of management," dealing with Ryan's role, and an analysis by Mr. DeStefano, "If director is found guilty, city stands to lose billions."

The Sun, in "Blame in Ferry Case is Pinned on an Official" on page 1, by David Hafetz, emphasized the degree to which the blame is on Ryan, and noted that the charges may leave the city vulnerable to claims of substantial damages.

The Post's coverage includes a news story by Kati Cornell Smith and Clement Lisi, "S.I. Ferry Pilot Pleads Guilty," a column by Steve Dunleavy, "At least he faced it like a man," both on page 4, and two articles on page 5 by Ms. Smith, "Boss asleep at switch: feds," and also "Doc's 'blank check' shocker." A Post editorial on page 36, "A Ferry Tale," welcomes Smith's admission of guilt and says "the indictments charge, there was an attempt by several key figures - including city officials - to cover up the failures that led to the tragedy. It also expresses hope that the 'old Staten Island ferry culture' is in fact a thing of the past.

Ferry boss indicted in fatal crash
BY GRAHAM RAYMAN, NY Newsday, Aug. 5, 2004
STAFF WRITER

LINK

The indictment of the city's director of ferry operations for last October's fatal crash provided a stark view on the management of the Staten Island Ferry service over the past decade.

Patrick Ryan, 52, who rose over a 24-year career from deckhand to the top operational post in the second largest ferry service in the United States, was charged yesterday with 11 counts of seaman's manslaughter. He was also charged with lying to investigators on three occasions in an alleged attempt to cover up his failure to distribute written safety rules.

In a 10-month investigation, federal prosecutors concluded that, over a period of years, Ryan and other managers failed to distribute and enforce written safety rules and failed to train employees in regard to them, leaving a gaping hole in the safety net protecting riders.

U.S. Attorney Roslynn Mauskopf said the Oct. 15 crash of the Andrew J. Barberi, which killed 11 passengers and injured dozens, was not a series of unfortunate coincidences but had "foreseeable causes."

Lapses in procedure

In particular, the rule requiring both captains to be present in the pilothouse was allowed to lapse starting in the early and mid-1990s, even though the risk of one pilot becoming incapacitated is a "very real hazard," Mauskopf said.

"Ryan failed to issue procedures within the ferry service that would guard against a pilot's sudden disability," she said. "This was a tragedy waiting to happen."

"This was the very emergency the two-pilot rule would have prevented," Mauskopf said.

Ryan's indictment lays much responsibility for the crash on ferry management. Though prosecutors noted the city was not being held criminally liable, the indictments could bolster the civil lawsuits pending against the city.

Port Capt. John Maudlin, whose duty it was to enforce the rules, was indicted for lying to investigators and obstructing justice.

Department of Transportation officials suspended Ryan and Mauldin indefinitely with pay yesterday.

Corporation counsel Michael Cardozo, the city's top lawyer, defended Ryan in a statement: "We do not believe that CaOn the day of the crash, Asst. Capt. Richard Smith lost consciousness, and no one was present to take over for him. The rest of the crew, meanwhile, was not aware of the danger.

pt. Patrick Ryan was guilty of manslaughter in the performance of his duties as director of ferry operations."

"Patrick Ryan has been a respected and loyal employee who brought about many improvements to the ferry over his long history of service," Cardozo said.

Ryan's lawyer, Thomas Fitzpatrick, said he was "very disappointed" that charges were brought.

"DOT would tell anyone that Pat Ryan has been a competent, dedicated, conscientious director of ferry operations," he said. "The bottom line is that it was always his view that the rule was routinely and widely followed, and in the few instances it was not, he took corrective action."

DOT Commissioner Iris Weinshall declined to comment on the indictments.

The indictments lay out in detail the history of the two-pilot rule, which dates in written form to 1958, and was reissued in 1977 and 1987.

History of two-pilot rule

In the 1990s, the indictment alleges, enforcement of the rule lapsed, and informal practices took over, prosecutors said. Captains and assistant captains were often apart. On the night shift, instead of alternating trips, one captain worked half the shift, while the other often slept. The deckhands' responsibilities were not enforced.

In 2000, then-director Pamela Cess drafted new procedures, which restated the two-pilot rule, but never finalized them.

In 2001, Ryan began drafting his own procedure, which included the two-pilot rule.

In July 2002, he provided the document to a DOT official and the U.S. Coast Guard. But, he did not distribute it to ferry personnel.

"As a result, the ferry operated without centrally promulgated and uniform rules," the indictment alleges.
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.


Ferry Director Is Charged by U.S. in Fatal Accident
By MICHAEL LUO, NY Times, August 5,. 2004

LINK

After a nearly 10-month investigation into the fatal crash of a Staten Island ferry in October, federal prosecutors unsealed indictments yesterday that placed the blame for the disaster squarely on the city's director of ferry operations, as well as on the ship's pilot that day.

Taking an unusual, two-pronged approach to prosecuting one of the worst mass transit catastrophes in New York City's history, Roslynn R. Mauskopf, the United States attorney in Brooklyn, announced charges of seaman's manslaughter against both men, using the common term for an obscure legal statute alleging criminal negligence or recklessness that leads to death at sea.

The law, which dates to 1838, can be used to prosecute ship's officers, as well as executives in the corporation that owns the vessel, in this case the City of New York.

In laying out the charges, Ms. Mauskopf offered new details of what happened on the ferry that day, and painted a picture of management lapses that she said had led to the accident.

Most prominent among the five people charged in the case is Patrick Ryan, 52, the director of ferry operations at the time of the accident. He is expected to be arraigned today on 11 counts of seaman's manslaughter, one for each person killed as a result of the crash of the ferry, the Andrew J. Barberi, on Oct. 15.

He is also to be arraigned on three counts of lying to investigators who questioned him about the crash and about the ferry's operating rules and procedures, including one requiring both pilots to be in the wheelhouse at all times. At the time of the crash, only one was present.

Ms. Mauskopf was scathing yesterday in her criticism of Mr. Ryan, saying his lapses included a failure to enforce the two-pilot rule, a longstanding policy that she says could have prevented the crash.

"This was a tragedy waiting to happen," she said. "The crash of the Barberi had foreseeable causes that Patrick Ryan saw and ignored."

Mr. Ryan's lawyer, William Fitzpatrick, reiterated his client's contention that he had distributed copies of the two-pilot rule to crews.

In a surprising turn of events, the Barberi's captain, Michael J. Gansas, who initially drew scrutiny because witnesses said he was not in the wheelhouse at the time of the crash, was charged only with lying to investigators. Prosecutors decided that Mr. Gansas, who was fired after the crash, was not responsible for being in the wheelhouse because the two-pilot rule was not being enforced.

The port captain, John Mauldin, who is Mr. Ryan's brother-in-law and was one of two supervisors who helped him oversee daily operations, was charged with obstruction of justice and lying to investigators.

Before Mr. Mauskopf's news conference, Richard J. Smith, 55, the ship's pilot, who was alone at the controls at the time of the accident, pleaded guilty yesterday in Federal District Court in Brooklyn to 11 counts of seaman's manslaughter, one for each crash victim, as well as to lying in a medical report he filed with the Coast Guard to renew his pilot's license in 2000. His doctor, William Tursi, also faces charges of lying in that medical report.

Although each count of seaman's manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, Judge Edward R. Korman told Mr. Smith that he most likely faced 33 to 41 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.

The two-pilot rule became crucial on the day of the accident because of what happened to Mr. Smith, who lost consciousness as he was guiding the Barberi into the Staten Island terminal, causing the ship to crash into a concrete maintenance pier.

Appearing rumpled and tentative in a beige suit, Mr. Smith, who resigned yesterday, told Judge Korman that he was tired when he reported to work that day, a result of yardwork he had done at home. He was also having severe back pain, a chronic problem. "I was so tired and in such pain, I was not in proper physical condition to operate the Staten Island ferry," he said.

More important in the minds of prosecutors, Mr. Smith admitted he had been taking tramadol, a prescription painkiller that can cause drowsiness, dizziness and confusion, as well as an over-the-counter medicine that included diphenhydramine, also known to lead to drowsiness.

As a result, Mr. Smith said, he lost consciousness as the ship approached the St. George terminal, causing it to drift off course and crash into the pier.

An assistant United States attorney, Andrew Frisch, detailed a long list of medications that investigators later discovered Mr. Smith had been taking before the accident, including drugs for high blood pressure and insomnia. In 2000, however, when he applied to the Coast Guard to renew his pilot's license, he wrote "none" in the medications section of his medical report and did not check off high blood pressure as one of his problems, Mr. Frisch said. The name of his physician, Dr. Tursi, is signed on the report.

"I just didn't want the Coast Guard to know," Mr. Smith told the judge. "I was worried about my job."

Mr. Frisch pointed out that Mr. Smith was taking the tramadol, for back pain, when he filed the report; the drug would have disqualified him from piloting the ferry.

After the plea, the relatives of several victims called the potential sentence woefully inadequate.

"That comes to like three months a victim," said Vincent Ferrante Sr., whose son Vincent Jr. was killed. "That's no kind of justice."

The charges against Mr. Ryan center on his performance as the ferry's director. The indictment against him says that the two-pilot rule, in existence since 1958, was reissued in 1977 and most recently in 1988.

"The directors of ferry operations took this rule quite seriously," Ms. Mauskopf said, explaining that they handed it out to crew members and trained them to follow it.

But by the mid-1990's, when Mr. Ryan became director of ferry operations, the rule had lapsed, Ms. Mauskopf said. "The practices of captains and assistant captains varied widely," she said. "Some rode together. Others did not. The rules were not disseminated, not routinely observed and not enforced."

In 2002, Mr. Ryan, who was writing up standard operating procedures for the ferry, sent a draft to higher-ups in the City Department of Transportation and to the Coast Guard, but he never gave them to crew members, she said.

Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Ryan's lawyer, insisted that his client had distributed ferry rules sometime after Sept. 11, 2001.

"He says he recalls distributing those directives through the normal method of distribution, which was to put them in envelopes, with the name of each ferryboat, to be picked up by crew members and brought on the boats," he said in a telephone interview. "That's the way most regulations and notices were distributed."

Mr. Ryan's impression, according to Mr. Fitzpatrick, was that the rule was being followed by most crews. Mr. Ryan was suspended without pay from his job yesterday.

Mr. Mauldin, the port captain, was charged with lying to investigators in claiming that the rules were distributed. His lawyer, Nicholas DeFeis, insisted again yesterday that the rules had been handed out. Mr. Mauldin was suspended without pay.

Donald J. Kennedy, a maritime law specialist with Carter Ledyard & Milburn in Manhattan, said he could find only two cases in which people other than a ship's officers had been charged under the seaman's manslaughter law: in 1904, when several company executives were indicted after the General Slocum, an excursion steamer, caught fire in the East River and more than 1,000 people aboard died, and in 1993, when the owner of a cargo ship, the Golden Venture, was indicted after trying to smuggle 300 illegal Chinese immigrants into the country, 10 of them drowning when the ship ran aground.


Pilot Admits He Caused Crash Anthony Destefano, NY Newsday, Aug. 5, 2004