New York City is bracing itself for tens of millions of dollars worth of lawsuits, as a court holds that the city was negligent in the case of the ferry crash that killed 11 people in 2003.

The city had tried to limit its liability in the accident to around $14 million, but that hope has been dashed by the ruling of the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals.

The ferry crash occurred in October 2003 in New York Harbor. Pilot Richard Smith was the only pilot at the helm of the ferry that had about 1500 passengers on board. He was on medication for blood pressure and had consumed painkillers. Before long, Smith blacked out at the controls. The ferry lost control and smashed into a pier. Eleven people were killed and many more injured.

In the days following the horrific crash, the city tried to play down its part in the accident. Smith was the lone pilot at the controls and regulations require there be two pilots at the helm. The city argued that it was normal practice in the ferry industry to allow a single pilot to work on his own. In this case, the former director of the NYC Ferry, Patrick Ryan, admitted his part in the accident, and admitted that he failed to enforce the regulation mandating two pilots. He was sentenced to a year and one day in jail. The pilot, Richard Smith, was jailed for 18 months for manslaughter. His role in the disaster was found to be smaller in comparison to that of upper management.

The ruling should come as good news for the many injured in the crash, many of whom suffered amputations. When the ferry crashed into the pier, it smashed though the ship cutting, injuring many of the passengers. A total of 189 personal injury lawsuits have been filed, and of these the city has settled all but 59 of the suits.

As the court said in this ruling, it would have been a small burden on the city to ensure that the regulations mandating two pilots at the wheel were enforced. At the very least, the city should have had another person on hand to render emergency assistance in case the pilot became incapacitated at the wheel. Blaming Richard Smith for being at the wheel on medication is right, but greater responsibility lies with the authorities that allowed him to be alone on that ferry in the first place.

Saying something has been done many times before – in this case – a single pilot being allowed to steer the ferry – and is therefore harmless is a ridiculous argument. Regulations exist for a reason, and as the court, said it was the responsibility of the city to protect ferry passengers.

How difficult could it have been to make some effort to enforce its own legislation? Negligence by the city is plain to see in this incident.

When the Crown Princess, a luxury cruise operated by Miami based Carnival Corp. began to list just a few hours after it left Port Canaveral on July 18, 2006 passengers might have been forgiven for believing they were living out the Titanic nightmare. The 113,000-ton ship reportedly tilted 16 to 18 feet for no apparent reason, causing severe injuries as objects began tumbling off shelves and people began to be thrown about. In the terrifying bedlam that followed, at least two passengers on board suffered critical injuries. When the tilt was finally corrected and the liner reached dry land, more than 90 passengers had to be taken to hospital.

At the time of the incident, the ship was nearing the end of its nine-day luxury Caribbean cruise. There was no evidence to suggest that choppy waves or bad weather had caused the tilt.

Now, new interviews with two of the ship’s crew members suggest that the tilt might have occurred due to human error. Interviews that the National Transportation Safety Board conducted with Dr. Andrew Proctor and Second Officer Adam Stratford indicate that it was Stratford who took the ship off autopilot, which caused the liner to tilt at an alarming angle.

The interviews are part of a collection of 200 documents and transcripts collected by the National Transportation Safety Board in its attempts to investigate the case. At the time of the incident, Princess Cruise officials did not name persons responsible for the accident, saying only that human error was responsible.

This isn’t the first time that Princess cruises has had such accidents. The last time was in 2006 on another ship operated by the company. That ship had to turn around because one of the passengers felt seriously sick. The resulting emergency turnaround that followed led to at least 37 people being injured, including crew members.

As dangerous as injuries sustained at sea are they pale in comparison to the kind of terror and trauma that passengers must have undoubtedly felt as the ship began to tilt. Cruise lines have become popular for stuffing just about every entertainment and dining avenue available on dry land into their liners. One wishes they would pay as much attention to the kind of personnel they put in charge of the controls as they do they in their choice of showman bar tenders and salsa dancers.

If you have been injured or a loved one has been killed as the result of pilot error in a boating accident, contact the California boating accident attorneys at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.