Captin of ill-fated cruise ship: "I tripped" into a conveniently placed lifeboat - Polidicks

[img]http://filesmelt.com/dl/217926-costa-concordia.jpg[/img] [release](CBS/AP) - The cruise ship captain under fire for abandoning his vessel while thousands of passengers scrambled for rescue has reportedly come up with an explanation for his flight - he accidentally tripped and fell into a lifeboat. Jailed since the accident, Capt. Francesco Schettino appeared Tuesday before a judge in Grosseto, where he was questioned for three hours. Several English-language newspapers have reported that, according to La Repubblica, Schettino testified that "the passengers were pouring on to the decks, taking the lifeboats by assault." "I didn't even have a life jacket because I had given it to one of the passengers. I was trying to get people to get into the boats in an orderly fashion. Suddenly, since the ship was at a 60 to 70 degree angle, I tripped and I ended up in one of the boats. That's how I found myself in the lifeboat." "Suspended there, I was unable to lower the boat into the sea, because the space was blocked by other boats in the water." The judge ordered him held under house arrest and Italian media reported he returned to his home near Naples. Federal prosecutors are planning to challenge that decision. Criminal charges including manslaughter and abandoning ship are expected to be filed by prosecutors in coming days. Schettino faces a possible 12 years in prison if convicted of the abandoning ship charge alone. Schettino's lawyer, Bruno Leporatti, told a news conference in Grosetto that house arrest made sense given there was no evidence the captain intended to flee. He cited the fact that the captain coordinated the evacuation from the shore after leaving the ship. "He never left the scene," Leporatti said. "There has never been a danger of flight." Leporatti added the captain was upset by the accident, contrary to depictions in the Italian media that he did not appear to show regret. "He is a deeply shaken man, not only for the loss of his ship, which for a captain is a grave thing, but above all for what happened and the loss of human life," the lawyer said. Schettino's role in the disaster has been one of the main focal points since the Costa Concordia slammed into a reef Friday off the tiny Italian island of Giglio, leaving 11 dead and 21 missing. The cruise liner company has said that Schettino made an unauthorized maneuver, bringing the $450 million vessel too close to shore. His absence from the ship during the rescue has gotten most of the attention. In a dramatic phone conversation released Tuesday, a coast guard official was heard ordering the captain, who had abandoned the ship with his first officers, back on board to oversee the evacuation. But Schettino resisted the order, saying it was too dark and the ship was tipping dangerously. "You go on board! Is that clear? Do you hear me?" Coast Guard Capt. Gregorio De Falco shouted as the Schettino sat safe in a life raft "It is an order. Don't make any more excuses. You have declared 'Abandon ship.' Now I am in charge." "Listen Schettino," De Falco can be heard shouting in the audio tape. "There are people trapped on board. ... You go on board and then you will tell me how many people there are. Is that clear?" But Schettino resisted, saying the ship was listing and he was with his second-in-command in the lifeboat. "I am here with the rescue boats. I am here. I am not going anywhere. I am here," he said. "I am here to coordinate the rescue." "What are you coordinating there? Go on board! Coordinate the rescue from aboard the ship. Are you refusing?" came the response. Schettino said he was not refusing, but he still did not return to the ship, saying at one point: "Do you realize it is dark and here we can't see anything?" De Falco shouted back: "And so what? You want to go home, Schettino? It is dark and you want to go home? Get on that prow of the boat using the pilot ladder and tell me what can be done, how many people there are and what their needs are. Now!"[/release] [url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57361085/report-captain-claims-he-tripped-into-lifeboat/]Source: CBS News[/url] fuck, forgot to fix that mistake in the title.

and then the lifeboat was full of hot women and bottles of champagne.

[QUOTE=Techno-Man;34286166]and then the lifeboat was full of hot women and bottles of champagne.[/QUOTE] And it was too far away to get back onto the boat.

[QUOTE=soccerskyman;34286202]And it was too far away to get back onto the boat.[/QUOTE] And sharks patrolled

I was listening to the radio in the car the other day, and it had a dub of the radio conversation between the captain and someone in a helicopter. It was basically ten minutes of the guy in the helicopter going "dude wtf are you doing", and the captain saying that he didn't want to go check for casualties because "it [was] dark out". Pretty much describes the whole situation. Schettino must have had a nervous breakdown or something, because he [I]really[/I] didn't want to check the decks for survivors, despite the rescue crews having just shown up and vitally needing that information.

Then video footage is found that proves he's lying :v: Reminds me of that one Spongebob episode where Squidward lied about the accident when taking a nap in the storage room. [editline].[/editline] Neat, the wiki page for the episode: [url]http://spongebob.wikia.com/wiki/Accidents_Will_Happen[/url]

Wasn't there a recording released of a coast guard dude yelling at him to go back and get on the boat and he was mostly refusing?

[QUOTE=Dragoshi1;34286264]Wasn't there a recording released of a coast guard dude yelling at him to go back and get on the boat and he was mostly refusing?[/QUOTE] That was most likely what I heard on the radio, yes.

Dang, and I thought Ndamukong Suh gave asinine explanations.

He neglected to mention the Ninja Pirates that stopped him from getting back on the boat

Sounds like a coward, however I personally have no idea how I would react, I mean with the boat tipping at 60 degree angles I might have got in one myself.

Are there any pictures of the the inside after the accident? It looks like it'd be a sweet thing to explore in that condition.

"What? He fell, tripped, landed on his dick?" - Eminem

What a piece of Schettino!

So... the captain is the chick and the dude is the lifeboat? [img]http://mxymag.com/31/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/mtvsex-01.jpg[/img]

[QUOTE=Keegs;34286358]Sounds like a coward, however I personally have no idea how I would react, I mean with the boat tipping at 60 degree angles I might have got in one myself.[/QUOTE] When you assume the roll of an Officer, and more importantly, Captain it's you're duty to make sure everyone get's off the ship before you do. If they die and you don't, you're not doing your job right. (unless their death was completely unavoidable/freak accident)

This is actually fucked. Apparently the boat is like impossible to crash too.

How did the rest of the ships crew preform in getting people off? With the Captain nowhere in sight, I'd assume the first mate would take command and do Schettino's job. [editline]18th January 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Sickle;34286731]This is actually fucked. Apparently the boat is like impossible to crash too.[/QUOTE] They said that about the Titanic, too. The fact of the matter is, if you scrape against a sharp point object, most of the time the sharp pointy object is going to win.

He does have a point, it would be almost impossibly dangerous to search the ship when it is listing that much in the pitch black. It's also not entirely unlikely he would have ended up near or in one of the life rafts considering the only way to trip would be straight down the side of the ship. Still, it's his responsibility to do everything he possibly could have. He should have left his first officer to sort out gathering the life rafts up and getting people ashore and he should have tried to walk along the side of the ship checking the cabins through the windows.

i can't believe they didn't mention he refused because he was going to robot pirate island

[QUOTE=Crash15;34287003]i can't believe they didn't mention he refused because he was going to robot pirate island[/QUOTE] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1MHfA5v3Co[/media]

[QUOTE=Last or First;34286631]So... the captain is the chick and the dude is the lifeboat? [img]http://mxymag.com/31/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/mtvsex-01.jpg[/img][/QUOTE] I like how almost every panel contains jazz hands.

[QUOTE=Second-gear-of-mgear;34286361]Are there any pictures of the the inside after the accident? It looks like it'd be a sweet thing to explore in that condition.[/QUOTE] I agree, I've got a diving license and have dove some sick sunken wrecks, that would be amazing to dive in, especially since for the most part it's not that deep, so you could spend a great deal of time exploring. [B]EDIT:[/B] Got some: [url]http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-202_162-10011015.html[/url]

[video=youtube;9RiVd4fTfNE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RiVd4fTfNE[/video]

I bloody love those videos.

[QUOTE=OvB;34286732]How did the rest of the ships crew preform in getting people off? With the Captain nowhere in sight, I'd assume the first mate would take command and do Schettino's job. [editline]18th January 2012[/editline] They said that about the Titanic, too. The fact of the matter is, if you scrape against a sharp point object, most of the time the sharp pointy object is going to win.[/QUOTE] iirc 2nd in command was right next to him according to the phone recording

Wait, what? Abandoning ship is actually a crime? That's fucking stupid.

[QUOTE=Mr. Smartass;34287756]Wait, what? Abandoning ship is actually a crime? That's fucking stupid.[/QUOTE] Your ship crashed, in this case even because you went "hurr durr let's pass too close to the island for teh lulz". It is your duty as a captain to STAY ON THE FUCKING SHIP AND HELP YOUR ENDANGERED CREW AND PASSENGERS. Instead, he did not do jack shit for a hour or so, not even evacuating the ship while it was still not tilted. There was plenty of time to put the passengers on lifeboats and send them to safety, but he refused for some reason. He then fled. His actions, incompetence and scumbaggery led to the death of various people. He is a criminal.

[QUOTE=Mr. Smartass;34287756]Wait, what? Abandoning ship is actually a crime? That's fucking stupid.[/QUOTE] Yeah the Captain shouldn't have responsibility!

[QUOTE=Mr. Smartass;34287756]Wait, what? Abandoning ship is actually a crime? That's fucking stupid.[/QUOTE] His actions were negligent and resulted in the death of dozens of people and countless millions in damage. As a Captain it's his job to make sure evacuations are done calm and orderly, and he failed to do that. Sully Sullenburger made a better Captain than this idiot, and he had to belly flop his vessel out of the sky. [img]http://i.imgur.com/uQAZT.jpg[/img]