We got a tip from a friend who mentioned that a Virginia ship pilot broke his/her hip after falling from a ship recently. Tried to confirm via the Virginia Pilots, but there’s no contact information for them. Anyone know what happened?
VA Pilot was leaving coal ship at Lamberts Pt when the gangway collapsed and pilot fell into water.
Holy crap. Anyone know who the pilot was (I’m assuming no since no one stated a name) But curious. Was it a bay pilot or docking pilot?
It was a Virginia Pilot. The gangway base broke as the gangway was being swung over to the dock. The rescue was coordinated by the Moran Docking Master and the Moran tugs crew that came up on the pier to retrieve him.
It’s been a bad three month, first a Long Beach Pilot than the cColumbia River Pilot on the same day as the incident with the Virginia Pilot
The Virginia Pilot who fell from the broken gangway was me, a Junior Pilot in the Apprenticeship program. The steel pin which holds the rotating platform at the top of the gangway sheered off and the gangway fell and I went with it, slipping between two fenders a few feet apart, the ship and the pier. I broke my pelvis and sustained a laceration on my forehead. Seven weeks later I returned to work full time, and I’m doing well. very interesting to see a blog about it! I wasn’t aware about the long beach pilot or the columbia river pilot… What happened?
The Virginia Pilot who was injured is me.
Sounds like a nasty spill, hope you healed up well.
Glad your back to work. Thanks for sharing more details about your unfortunate incident. Hope you have a long enjoyable career as a VA pilot.