PORT CANAVERAL, Fla - Investigators are examining whether human error was responsible for the mysterious tilt of a brand new Princess cruise ship that nearly caused a serious accident on Tuesday. Around 94 passengers were seriously injured and four are still in the hospital.
The accident aboard the Crown Princess caused the ship to tilt 15 degrees to the right and is similar to another incident that occurred on its sister ship the Grand Princess in February. That accident was blamed on the mistakes made by the ship's bridge crew. Princess spokeswoman Julie Benson said the earlier incident "was strictly human error, and that captain was reprimanded." She added that the company was not ruling anything out for Tuesday's incident, "two possibilities that we're looking at are something in the steering system and human error."
Benson said 240 of the 3,450 passengers were treated onboard for injuries. Among the injuries some were serious like broken bones, while some were mere scratches. "It was like Niagara Falls. People who were in the pool were washed out of the pool," Alfred Caproni of North Adams, Mass told AP. "There were dozens of people with broken noses, bloody noses. We thought we were gone. All the water from the pools was coming right over the edge."
The company said that it would offer a full refund to passengers. Any additional expenses incurred because of the accident would also be covered. “We deeply regret this incident, and are doing everything we can to make our passengers as comfortable as possible under these difficult circumstances,” the company said.
