ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Two electrical blackouts, one caused by a loose wire and another by problems with a fuel pump, disabled the controls of a huge cargo ship before it crashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse last year and kill six construction workers, National Transportation Safety Board officials said Tuesday.

The crew was able to get the power back on after the first blackout, but a second blackout shortly after the first was caused by a lack of fuel because the fuel flushing pump used to supply the generators doesn’t restart automatically the way the main pumps are designed to do. That flushing pump must be restarted manually by a crew member leaving the engine room and heading down two decks in complete darkness to reach that pump and restart it.

NTS

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