NTSB: Ship's Crew Ignored Warnings Before Wreck

Federal investigators have concluded that the crew of a cargo ship ignored radioed and visual warnings about lights being out on a bridge in the moments leading up to a wreck.
 
National Transportation Safety Board investigators said on Tuesday that the crew of the Delta Mariner used only visual cues and went under the wrong span of the Eggner's Ferry Bridge near Aurora on Jan. 26, 2012.
 
The wreck tore down a 322-foot span of the bridge over the Tennessee River.

Investigators also concluded that white warning lights on the bridge had been out for several years and other lights shorted out before the wreck. 
 
The missing span halted traffic on U.S. 68 between the western shore of Kentucky Lake and the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area.
 
The Delta Mariner was carrying an Atlas rocket booster and other components for the U.S. Air Force's AEHF-2 mission from Decatur, Ala., to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
 
Foss Maritime, which owns the Delta Mariner, has asked a judge to dismiss $7.8 million in claims against it in relation to the crash.