Craig Pittman's Welcome to Florida EP 97: The Skyway Bridge disaster
Season 5, Episode 3039, May 14, 2022, 01:34 PM
The Skyway Bridge disaster
The 2022 season of "Welcome to Florida" has been about uncovering forgotten stories. We continue today as the anniversary of the Tampa Bay Skyway Bridge collapse approaches. On May 9, 1980, a freighter was blown off course by a freak weather system and into a piling of the bridge. The collision caused a span of the bridge to collapse, sending 35 travelers over the edge and to their death below. Bill DeYoung wrote the definitive book on the tragedy, "Skyway: The True Story of Tampa Bay's Signature Bridge and the Man Who Brought it Down." Bill, a St. Pete native who now works at the St. Petersburg Catalyst, a local news source, joins us to discuss the accident and the ship's pilot. #skyway #stpetecatalyst #billddyoung #skywaydisaster #craigpittman #stpete #tampabay #radio #radiostpete