NTSB leader says data recorder taken from cargo ship that hit Baltimore bridge

Chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Jennifer Homendy, speaks to the press on March 27, 2024, near the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)

National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy told Fox News on Wednesday that her agency has recovered the voyage data recorder from the ship that struck the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore, causing it to collapse.

“It records everything from speed to location of the vessel,” Homendy said, noting that the recorder has been sent back to a lab for analysis. “So we will be able to share what happened through a timeline of events leading up to the striking of the bridge.”

“And then we hope to marry that with everything that occurred afterwards. Any sort of notification, any sort of mayday, any sort of potential evacuation,” she added.

Homendy also said the NTSB’s focus right now is on getting “perishable evidence” from the Dali cargo ship, which remains stuck under the collapsed metal from the bridge.

“So once we get on the vessel, hopefully today we will be able to get, any other electronics that we want to take, any other sort of document.