Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse Traced to One Loose Wire on Cargo Ship, NTSB Says

A single loose wire buried deep inside the Dali, a 300-metre container ship roughly the length of the Eiffel Tower, triggered the catastrophic chain reaction that brought down Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge last year, according to a painstaking US National Transportation Safety Board investigation.

The NTSB said on Tuesday that faulty wiring caused two blackouts on March 26, 2024, knocking out propulsion and steering. With the ship suddenly powerless, it veered off course and slammed into a bridge support column, killing six highway workers.

The collapse became an instant global spectacle when a livestream camera at the Port of Baltimore captured the dramatic moment a massive section of the bridge crumpled into the water.

The report says the ship’s crew attempted to steer away from the bridge but couldn’t regain control due to the electrical failures. The NTSB praised the vessel’s pilots for quickly alerting authorities, giving the Maryland Transportation Authority time to halt traffic on the 2.5-mile bridge and likely preventing mass casualties.

Seven workers were still on the structure when the ship hit. Six of them died.