![]() The timestamp is only as accurate as the clock in the camera, and it may be completely wrong. If the file has been modified from its original state, some details such as the timestamp may not fully reflect those of the original file. Only five people who plunged off the bridge survived.This file contains additional information such as Exif metadata which may have been added by the digital camera, scanner, or software program used to create or digitize it. Remember them: Here are the names of those who died in 2002 bridge disaster in Webbers Falls. The impact collapsed a 503-foot section of the bridge, which fell into the river and onto the barges below. They returned to the towboat when the skiff's propeller became entangled in debris, malfunctioned and would not restart. Doucette, an editorial writer and columnist for the Tulsa World, was working for The Oklahoman in 2002 when a barge hit the Interstate 40 bridge, killing 14 people as cars, trucks and semis fell into the river. As the tow approached the Interstate 40 highway bridge at mile 360.3, it veered off course and rammed a pier 201 feet west of (outside) the navigation channel. He said he detected no problem with the captain's behavior.Ībout one minute later, the captain sounded the general alarm and crew members rushed to the deck and saw cars and people in the water.Īfter making two emergency calls - one by cell phone, the other by radio - to the Coast Guard, crew members launched a skiff and tried to rescue survivors. The crew member said that before going below decks, he could see the Interstate 40 bridge in the distance. It was one of the worst roadway disasters in Oklahoma state history. The accident killed 14 people, many of whom died when their cars plunged off the damaged bridge into the river. However, Suydam said Wednesday that blood and urine samples taken immediately after the crash have been turned over to an Oklahoma state police lab and results have not been received.Īccording to crew members interviewed by the NTSB, Dedmon was in the wheelhouse piloting the tug and was visited by a crewman five to ten minutes before the crash. A ceremony was held to remember the 14 people killed when a bridge collapsed in Muskogee County, 20 years ago on May 26 2002. The Interstate 40 collapse (2002) A section of the Interstate 40 bridge near Webbers Falls collapsed after it was struck by a barge on May 26, 2002. The pilot, Joe Dedmon, 60, of Florence, Miss., told state troopers that he blacked out just before the crash.Īlthough he was not injured in the accident, Dedmon was admitted to a Muskogee hospital and his doctor has not allowed NTSB investigators to interview him.ĭedmon also has obtained an attorney who has kept investigators at bay, Suydam said.Īttorneys for Magnolia Marine Transport Co., owners of the towboat, have said that Dedmon tested negative for drugs and alcohol. On Sunday May 26, 2002, the I-40 bridge over the Arkansas River near Webbers Falls was struck in the early morning hours by a barge that had veered several. Ken Suydam, the chief investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, said the vessel did not swerve, as if making too wide a turn at a bend in the river, but instead veered at angle from its normal route. Hes with us and He strengthens us for whatever comes our way. The barges, propelled by a towboat, veered nearly 300 feet from the main river channel to strike the piers that supported the bridge. No one was ever charged with a crime for the I-40 bridge collapse. Salvage crews will now begin working the site, he said, but recovery workers will stand by in case more vehicles or bodies are detected.Ī 600-foot section of the bridge fell into the river early Sunday morning after being struck by two empty tanker barges being pushed up river at about 5 mph. "The divers have examined every hot spot," Kopepasah said. ![]() Drive north on OK-100 for about two miles. Address: Park Rd, Webbers Falls, OK Directions: I-40 exit 287. The sculpture features a young girl standing on a collapsing girder, reaching for a dove. No more vehicles have been found since Tuesday and officials are hopeful none remain in the water. Webbers Falls, Oklahoma: Bridge Collapse Memorial Memorializes the 2002 collapse of a nearby I-40 bridge, which killed 14 people. They are Jerry Gillion, 58, and his wife, Patricia, 58, of Spiro, Okla, and David Mueggenburg, 52, and his wife, Jean, 51, of Okarche, Okla. The names of four more victims were released Wednesday. In all, 14 bodies and ten vehicles have been recovered. The bodies of her parents were recovered earlier and the child was presumed dead because she was known to be traveling with them. The body of Shea Nicole Johnson, the only child known to have died when the Interstate 40 bridge collapsed after being struck by a barge, was found floating about a half-mile down river from where the car in which she was riding plunged into the water.
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