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Elevator death on the Ecstasy

ComradeRyan

By ComradeRyan,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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Hoosierpop

Hoosierpop

Posted
Posted
My friend and I are booked on the Ecstasy to sail on January 11-15th. We were both shocked and terribly saddened to learn of this horrible accident. Never mind we can't "unsee" that video. I don't mean to sound insensitive or selfish, because I truly do feel awful for this poor man's family and coworkers. I can't help wondering, though, if this tragedy will affect upcoming cruises on this ship...does anybody have any idea how Carnival usually handles tragedies on a ship... Do they let the ship keep sailing? I would hope that if they do that they would at least permanently shut down that elevator.

 

 

I have no idea, but hard to imagine that this will delay your trip. I'm not trying to sound heartless, but unless there is some mechanical issue that hasn't been fixed by your trip, I'm not sure what would delay it.

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ShannonSC2

ShannonSC2

Posted
Posted

I can't even imagine witnessing something like this but like people have said things happen everyday. Car accidents, people falling, people getting run over, etc.

 

What a tragic thing to see. My heart goes out to not only the family of this person but to all the crew members who had to experience this. The crew members are also family and I am sure some had to continue with their daily activities knowing this accident happened.

 

I haven't seen the video but don't plan on it either. I think it takes a lot to just stand there and video record things like this. Maybe instead of recording they should have jumped on and tried to help keep people away from the scene.

 

Also remember this can happen on any ship or at any hotel. Just because it is Carnival doesn't make them a horrible cruise line.

 

Happy New Year!

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2Shoes2Go

2Shoes2Go

Posted
Posted

This makes my heart hurt. We know so many officers and crew. They are truly one large family. They share histories of past ships together and have so many connections.

We leave in a couple of days. I know this horror has touched so many we will see and talk with next week. We won't speak of it, but I expect many will be shocked and saddened. We hurt for them. :(

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nflvikings1

nflvikings1

Posted
Posted
Few thoughts on this chain of events;

 

1) There's more then one element involved in this horrible industrial accident. I'd strongly suspect when the investigation is completed, you'll find a number of factors contributing to the unfortunate outcome. If the crew member knowingly placed himself in a potential situation to become impaled on moving parts without first assuring himself that there was no possible way that elevator was going to move or activate, this potentially points to either A) improper training/procedural violations, B) potential impaired decision making by the deceased employee or other employees (tox screens would be key here as well as reconstructing the electrician's last hours), and/or C) evaluating the possibility of management pressure for a quick fix to a problem that caused safety bypasses... and we all know no employees are EVER pressured on cruise ships... or are ever found to be impaired... And no, I'm not laying blame or finding fault here. All factors to consider in a normal investigation of an industrial accident.

 

2) Building on #1 and comments from a previous poster, Lock Out/Tag Out. There had to be more hands in the mix here then just one unfortunate electrician, but at the end of the day the ultimate person responsible for your own safety is YOU. People do get lax, bypass steps, don't follow procedures. The end result is usually not good.

 

3) Regarding the aired footage, you have to remember there are usually very good pools of money sitting in television news operations just waiting for someone to call with exclusive footage of a juicy news story. Stations pay very well for on-scene views and their ratings go up as a result. The fact that an outside media outlet ended up with the footage just confirms to me that this passenger was possibly hungry for money. Traumatized? Yeah, all the way to the bank. People are normally not motivated to just give out footage like that from the goodness of their hearts.

 

4) On the flip side, the Miami TV station should have been sensitive to the family and to their viewers. The decision to air that footage was just plain wrong. The footage following the Disney monorail crash in Orlando a few years back resulting in a fatality didn't show the driver that was killed and that was marginal to air at best. Call the station's General Manager, file a FCC complaint, and calling the station's sponsors and complain are the best way to keep that behavior from repeating again. If you let them get away with it, it'll just be worse next time.

 

5) If I remember correctly, there's a little clause in the standard Carnival cruise contract that states that any images/video footage filmed in, on, or about the ship during the cruise is the property of Carnival, I'm going by memory and naturally paraphrasing here. Carnival could have (not saying SHOULD have) politely reviewed and impounded the guy's footage as being material evidence to a death investigation & a potential crime scene, however they did not. Perhaps what their procedures are in those kind of incidents needs to be looked at more closely.

 

Anyway, I'm coming at this from an investigations background, like several other professional folks on here. Terrible incident, my sympathies go out to the family. However, the key here is to prevent this from ever, ever happening again - fleet wide!

 

Eric

 

I completely agree with this.

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SonnekeH

SonnekeH

Posted
Posted
I guess, perhaps because of my profession, I feel differently than many on this issue. My thoughts are:

 

1) the people are wrong to film;

2) the media is wrong to show it, indulge it, and try to make money off such a tragedy - the purpose of media is the educate and inform on the issues - a mission they have long forgotten, rather than attempt to make a buck by sensationalizing a tragedy;

3) the family of the deceased deserves any assistance Carnival can provide, and I am confident that they will. The reason I say this is even for a burial at sea, for guests, they charge nothing. The provide a time and place, staff to accompany you, and without request, a letter memorializing the event with a large photo of the ship in an album. If they are so generous when essentially doing a guest a favor, I am confident they will take care of their own.

4) no one else deserves anything. Crime, violence, accidents, death, and destruction happen everyday all around us. For the most part, we live in a bubble so we seemed shocked when we witness or are victimized by it, but it can happen at anytime. It is simply a fact of life. What if, as another poster said, you were witness to an equally horrific car crash? Who is going to compensate you for the horror? We have turned into a society where we are so "me first" and "what can I get out of this" that we have lost all perspective.

 

Personally, I watched the video. And believe me, I see, hear and smell much worse in my job as I have been a prosecutor working first hand with cops for almost 20 years. Most people have no idea what humanity can really do to each other. The news might report a robbery in a nearby city each night - I promise you there were 5 more that went unreported by the news, here in my area alone.

 

So what should be do? We pray for those who have died and those who grieve, discuss any fears with our kids and families, and move on and live our lives as a source of light against such darkness.

 

Amen. Well said.

Get on with your lives. Hug your loved ones. Live your lives the best way you know how.Look after your own. Be thankful for what you have. No one owes YOU anything.

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BecciBoo Great Review Rare

BecciBoo

Posted
Posted

I'm in my 60's.

 

When I was about 9 or 10, playing outside, we found a copy of a National Inquirer that featured pictures of a car crash and the face of someone whose head had been split right down the middle. All the kids in the neighborhood looked at these horrific pics. Nothing altered, that was the 50's.

 

I never told my folks I saw that (didn't even occur to me to mention it), but I can still see it in my minds eye. The mind is an amazing vault of information and these images don't fade away. Fortunately, it can heal itself. I am a perfectly normal and rational person in spite of it. Kids are resilient...they will be fine.

 

But don't pretend that its not human nature to gape at such things in curiosity and horror. That is exactly why there is media.

 

Horrifying and I pray for this man's family and for any persons who witnessed it. But....that is life.

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LC1968

LC1968

Posted
Posted

At the time the blood was cascading down the elevator I suspect the guy who took the video had no idea what had happened. How would he have known? Personally if the video leads to a safer workplace then I'm fine with the fact that it was taken.

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cruiseonthebrain

cruiseonthebrain

Posted
Posted
At the time the blood was cascading down the elevator I suspect the guy who took the video had no idea what had happened. How would he have known? Personally if the video leads to a safer workplace then I'm fine with the fact that it was taken.

 

Ah yes- I'm sure as he saw the blood and heard or yelled no it can't be- that he instantly thought to himself "Oh here is a good opportunity for a training video to make the ship safer".

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Golfin55

Golfin55

Posted
Posted
Not starting rumors. I've been in the elevator business for 30 yrs. and I can tell you that cruise ships, cargo ships and most other ships do not have elevator personnel on them. They do have crew members that will try to fix them but they are not governed by strict codes like here in the states. So when an elevator breaks and they can't fix it,they simply leave shut down til they get to port. I've never worked on a cruise ship but I have friends that have. It takes about 5 yrs.of on the job training while your going to school before they turn you on your own to fix elevators.

 

 

WHAT??? you sources are 100% incorrect. When you make a statement like that, please don't talk out of your rear end. The cruise lines ALL have trained mechanical engineers on board there ships AT ALL TIMES specifically trained by the manufacturer (Schindler, Otis ect.... It is also mandated by the S.O.L.A.S guidelines & U.S. Coast Guard regulations for passenger vessels.

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BroncoLvrs

BroncoLvrs

Posted
Posted
I'm sorry - during something like that, unless you can truly help (doctor, etc), he should have definitely left the area.

 

On one cruise we were all gathered in the atrium waiting for the balloon drop. Suddenly a passenger fell to the ground and once we saw he had assistance DH and I quickly left. Later we were told he had suffered a heart attack and thankfully survived. Tragedies are not shows.

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USNUZULOOSE

USNUZULOOSE

Posted
Posted

This is a tragedy for this man and his family. I could claim that a court should owe me money for what I saw on their lawn. A man shot his wife in front of his son on the front lawn of the divorce court. I saw both of them laying there. But it did not traumatize me for life or need counseling. But that little boy may have needed it after seeing that issue before i would need it. I often wonder to this day how he is doing. My prayers go out for the family at this time.

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cruiseonthebrain

cruiseonthebrain

Posted
Posted
It could be a natural human reaction when he filmed the incident. Something is happening, have camera, shoot. I can picture many people would do the same thing without thinking.

 

Maybe you are right- I grew up in a time when car phone-attached to cars- were the cell phone of the day and we didn't always have a camera on hand. But even so- why not just turn it over to the authorities? If his intentions were altruistic why run to the media crying about his trauma? I just don't buy that his intentions were in the right place. I would be absolutely heart sick if that deceased gentleman was my family or friend. Hell I am sick to my stomach over how his death has been treated by the traumatized amateur videotographer and I don't even know any of these people.

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vols159

vols159

Posted
Posted
What kind of a sick person video tapes something like this and then takes it to the media and what kind of a media outlet would run such a thing?

 

 

 

Makes me weep for humanity that we have such sick attention seeking people that would seek their 5 minutes of fame in such fashion.

 

 

Cnn

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untailored bostonian

untailored bostonian

Posted
Posted
The guy's a total jerk for contacting the media with this video for his fifteen minutes of fame. If he'd given it to the investigators only, that would be another story. Instead he's just another 'bag trying to get his face out there and maybe get something from Carnival.

 

RIP to the crew member. I hope his family never sees that video.

 

Do you have the same feeling towards all the other 3rd party videos of accident footage you see on the nightly news? I've surfed all my life and I've seen scores of shark bite victims on the beach video by citizen journalists. Are these all "total jerks" too?

 

If he made a few bucks from selling the video, so what? I would not have done it, and I have not searched for a peek.

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