Boater Dan
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Muddy Ohio River foils recovery of car, its occupants
Monday, May 24, 2004
By Steve Levin, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
While Pittsburgh police believe they know the identities of the two occupants of the Chevy Corsica that sped through the Corliss Tunnel late Saturday night and plunged into the Ohio River, strong currents yesterday prevented divers from locating the car.
Members of the city's River Rescue unit searched yesterday morning for several hours along a 100-yard area downstream of where the car apparently entered the river. Using sonar and global positioning satellite devices, they noted several likely spots where the car might have floated with the current.
It's likely that the car didn't sink immediately because air pockets would have given it some temporary buoyancy.
"There were a couple of potential blips on the screen, but with the river like it is, it could be a tree sitting there," said a member of the unit, who declined to identify himself.
The river's speed yesterday morning was estimated at more than 3 knots -- a little more than 3 mph -- with currents too fast and treacherous for divers. In addition, recent rains have muddied the river, making visibility zero.
Yesterday afternoon, Pittsburgh police Lt. Kevin Kraus said he was "99 percent sure" that there were two people in the car. He said the man and the woman were identified by family members after local TV stations yesterday broadcast a front plate recovered from the site that read "Shonna & Mike."
Kraus declined to release any further information about the victims.
He said there were no skid or brake marks in the tunnel. He said the car exited the tunnel at a high rate of speed, smashed through the Jersey barrier, became airborne and knocked off a section of a rusted wrought-iron fence just beyond. Kraus said there were rubber tire marks and scrapes on the iron fence.
The car still had enough speed and height to clear three separate sets of railroad tracks and an access road before hitting the bank of the river and going in, a distance Kraus estimated to be at least 65 feet.
Stanley Day, who lives above Corliss Auto on West Carson Street, said he heard the crash about 11:15 p.m.
"It was extremely loud," Day said. "There's people that hit that barrier before but not going that fast. Whoever was in that car had to be flying."
Yesterday morning, chunks of concrete from the Jersey barrier were still scattered about, and the edge of the barrier was stained with oil. The wrought-iron fence hung at an angle.
The Corliss Tunnel, less than one-tenth of a mile long, is at the end of a gradual descent of Corliss Street from Sheraden. Drivers must turn either left or right onto West Carson Street when exiting the tunnel.
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As of this evening, Pittsburgh River Rescue has not been able to put any divers in the water and is targeting Wednesday as the earliest due to brown water, fast currents, and heavy debris flow from the recent rains. Pittsburgh handles their own river rescue, but I thought others may be interested in this accident. I will post more after the recovery is made.
Dan
Monday, May 24, 2004
By Steve Levin, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
While Pittsburgh police believe they know the identities of the two occupants of the Chevy Corsica that sped through the Corliss Tunnel late Saturday night and plunged into the Ohio River, strong currents yesterday prevented divers from locating the car.
Members of the city's River Rescue unit searched yesterday morning for several hours along a 100-yard area downstream of where the car apparently entered the river. Using sonar and global positioning satellite devices, they noted several likely spots where the car might have floated with the current.
It's likely that the car didn't sink immediately because air pockets would have given it some temporary buoyancy.
"There were a couple of potential blips on the screen, but with the river like it is, it could be a tree sitting there," said a member of the unit, who declined to identify himself.
The river's speed yesterday morning was estimated at more than 3 knots -- a little more than 3 mph -- with currents too fast and treacherous for divers. In addition, recent rains have muddied the river, making visibility zero.
Yesterday afternoon, Pittsburgh police Lt. Kevin Kraus said he was "99 percent sure" that there were two people in the car. He said the man and the woman were identified by family members after local TV stations yesterday broadcast a front plate recovered from the site that read "Shonna & Mike."
Kraus declined to release any further information about the victims.
He said there were no skid or brake marks in the tunnel. He said the car exited the tunnel at a high rate of speed, smashed through the Jersey barrier, became airborne and knocked off a section of a rusted wrought-iron fence just beyond. Kraus said there were rubber tire marks and scrapes on the iron fence.
The car still had enough speed and height to clear three separate sets of railroad tracks and an access road before hitting the bank of the river and going in, a distance Kraus estimated to be at least 65 feet.
Stanley Day, who lives above Corliss Auto on West Carson Street, said he heard the crash about 11:15 p.m.
"It was extremely loud," Day said. "There's people that hit that barrier before but not going that fast. Whoever was in that car had to be flying."
Yesterday morning, chunks of concrete from the Jersey barrier were still scattered about, and the edge of the barrier was stained with oil. The wrought-iron fence hung at an angle.
The Corliss Tunnel, less than one-tenth of a mile long, is at the end of a gradual descent of Corliss Street from Sheraden. Drivers must turn either left or right onto West Carson Street when exiting the tunnel.
***************************************
As of this evening, Pittsburgh River Rescue has not been able to put any divers in the water and is targeting Wednesday as the earliest due to brown water, fast currents, and heavy debris flow from the recent rains. Pittsburgh handles their own river rescue, but I thought others may be interested in this accident. I will post more after the recovery is made.
Dan
LOL 
