I still hate to use the "new" one.
https://www.tampabay.com/narratives...-divers-cant-forget-what-they-saw-underwater/
https://www.tampabay.com/narratives...-divers-cant-forget-what-they-saw-underwater/
40 years ago the Sunshine Skyway Bridge disaster happened
- Thread starter largemouth
- Start date
Never knew about this. I crossed that bridge many times on my way to Sarasota. It was closed once due to high winds. It gives me the creeps sometimes and I didn't miss taking a detour that time.
A few years ago, I drove my wife to St. Pete airport and dropped her off. She was flying to Indianapolis for a visit.
As I was approaching the bridge on the way home, there was a large barge about to pass under the bridge. I pulled over on the shoulder and waited until it passed.
As I was approaching the bridge on the way home, there was a large barge about to pass under the bridge. I pulled over on the shoulder and waited until it passed.
What happened to those who made headlines after the Skyway bridge accident?
John Lerro
He is the pilot who crashed the Summit Venture into the Skyway Bridge.
John Lerro, who lived in Tampa, was acquitted, but he lived with guilt until he died in 2002 at the age of 59 due to complications of multiple sclerosis.
“He never forgave himself,” his widow, Roswitha Lerro, told the Times in 2002. “I hope he found forgiveness for himself in the end. He was an incredibly kind man.”
After the accident, a brief return as a harbor pilot was halted by the onset of multiple sclerosis. Suffering from depression, Lerro took up counseling of criminals and rape victims and volunteering at a suicide hotline.
A few months before his death, Lerro took a ride aboard Yerrid’s boat with their mutual friend Wade Boggs, the baseball great. They set out for the Sunshine Skyway, the first time Lerro would see it from the water since the day of the crash.
While they were anchored in the channel, a 600-foot freighter approached. Yerrid radioed the captain to ask where he should go.
Recognizing Yerrid’s name, the captain asked who was with him.
“I told him John Lerro, and he said, ‘Let’s treat him right,’” Yerrid said. “As the ship came by, he lays on the horn and gives a captain’s salute.
It was an unbelievable moment.”
John Lerro
He is the pilot who crashed the Summit Venture into the Skyway Bridge.
John Lerro, who lived in Tampa, was acquitted, but he lived with guilt until he died in 2002 at the age of 59 due to complications of multiple sclerosis.
“He never forgave himself,” his widow, Roswitha Lerro, told the Times in 2002. “I hope he found forgiveness for himself in the end. He was an incredibly kind man.”
After the accident, a brief return as a harbor pilot was halted by the onset of multiple sclerosis. Suffering from depression, Lerro took up counseling of criminals and rape victims and volunteering at a suicide hotline.
A few months before his death, Lerro took a ride aboard Yerrid’s boat with their mutual friend Wade Boggs, the baseball great. They set out for the Sunshine Skyway, the first time Lerro would see it from the water since the day of the crash.
While they were anchored in the channel, a 600-foot freighter approached. Yerrid radioed the captain to ask where he should go.
Recognizing Yerrid’s name, the captain asked who was with him.
“I told him John Lerro, and he said, ‘Let’s treat him right,’” Yerrid said. “As the ship came by, he lays on the horn and gives a captain’s salute.
It was an unbelievable moment.”
I briefly lived in Sarasota/Bradenton for a couple of years back in the 80s. I used to have a magazine type picture book on the bridge collapse, and every time I crossed the new Bridge I visualized the scene from a few years earlier.
I have extreme vertigo when it comes to Bridges anyway. I once started out to try and walk across the Golden Gate Bridge from the SF side, but as soon as I got out over the water I froze and literally could not continue forward. I was embarrassed to death, but my knees were shaking so bad that my only option was to crawl back to the SF side literally on my hands and knees. I was almost 40 yrs old and cars were honking with people laughing, but I just couldn't help it. I still get nightmares remembering how scared I was...
I can relate to that to a lesser extent. I often take the inside lane on the Skyway to minimize the chance of going over the side of the bridge. Honest
I've been in a few elevators on the outside of buildings and cruise ships, etc. I do not enjoy the view.
I would feel anxious as I approached the southbound Skyway Bridge. Slight vertigo might be what I felt now that you mention it.
Something else that gives me the creeps for no rational reason is one windmill that sits close to the highway off IN 63. I believe it is that you approach it head on and curve around it heading North. My son had the same feeling when he drove to Chicago alone.
My cousin visited Florida a couple of years ago. She wanted to go to Key West but was terrified of driving, or even riding in, a car over the bridges, such as the 7 mile bridge "Oh no, there's water on both sides!!!"
She instead booked a boat from Naples to Key West. She drove across the state, stayed over in Naples both ways, with a day and one night hotel in Key West. Long, expensive, and I'm sure that the safety record for boats is worse than for cars driving on Keys bridges in perfect weather.
She instead booked a boat from Naples to Key West. She drove across the state, stayed over in Naples both ways, with a day and one night hotel in Key West. Long, expensive, and I'm sure that the safety record for boats is worse than for cars driving on Keys bridges in perfect weather.
I had an ex-gf at IU who was petrified of the tanker trucks on the road. I either had to be a long-distance behind it or over-take it and get the hell away from it ASAP!
Did a road trip to Harrisburg from Bloomington to see her folks -- it was like ''slow down'' and then ''hurry the feck up'' all throughout the 10-11hrs road trip.
