Mayday Call From Ship Shortly Before Bridge Collapse Released

Workers continue to investigate and search for victims after the cargo ship Dali collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge, in Baltimore on March 27, 2024. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The mayday call issued by the container ship’s crew to the Maryland Transportation Authority Police channel moments before it hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the early hours of March 26 has been released.

The audio reveals what sounds like calmness before the panic as the 47-year-old bridge collapsed. It shows an effort to stop traffic on the bridge and get the contractors working on the bridge’s deck to get off it.

Two of the construction workers were rescued. The remaining six are missing and presumed dead.

Below is the transcript:

1:27 a.m. Male 1: “I need one of you guys on the south side, one of you guys on the north side, hold all traffic on the Key Bridge. There’s a ship approaching that just lost their steering. So until they get that under control, we’ve got to stop all traffic.”

1:28 a.m. Male 2: “[Inaudible] I’m en route to the south side.”

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1:28 a.m. Male 3: “[Inaudible] I’m holding traffic now. I was driving, but we stopped prior to the bridge, so I’ll have all outer loop traffic stopped.”

1:28 a.m. Male 1: “10-4, is there a crew working on the bridge right now?”

1:28 a.m. Male 4: [Inaudible]

1:28 a.m. Male 1: “Got it.”

1:28 a.m. Male 4: “Want me to stop traffic along this side right now?”

1:28 a.m. Male 1: “Yeah, if we could stop traffic, just make sure no one’s on the bridge right now. I’m not sure where there’s a crew up there. You might want to notify whoever the foreman is. See if we could get them off the bridge temporarily.”

1:28 a.m. Male 4: “10-4, once the other unit gets here, I’ll ride up on the bridge. I have all inner loop traffic stopped at this time.”

1:29 a.m. Male 4: “Once you get here, I’ll go grab the workers on the Key Bridge and then stop the outer loop.”

1:29 a.m. Male 5: “C-13 Dispatch, the whole bridge just fell down! [Inaudible], whoever, everybody, the whole bridge just collapsed.”

1:29 a.m. Male 6: “10-4. Dispatch is direct.”

1:29 a.m. Male 4: “That’s correct. [Inaudible] First time.”

1:29 a.m. Male 1: “Do we know if all traffic was stopped?”

1:29 a.m. Male 4: “I can’t get to the other side, sir, the bridge is down. We’re going to have to get somebody on the other side in Anne Arundel County, M.S.P., to get up here and stop traffic coming northbound on the Key Bridge.”

1:29 a.m. Male 5: “C13, I’m holding all traffic northbound.”