Sunshine Skyway Bridge disaster: 45 years later

FOX 13's Aaron Mesmer reports.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Friday marked the 45th anniversary of one of the Tampa Bay area's worst tragedies, when a freighter hit the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, causing part of the bridge to collapse, killing dozens of people.

1980 tragedy

The backstory:

On the morning of May 9, 1980, the MV Summit Venture hit one of the support beams on the bridge, causing 1,200 feet of the bridge to plummet into the bay.

Six cars, a truck and a Greyhound bus fell 150 feet in the moments that followed, killing 35 people.

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9th May 1980: Debris from the Sunshine Skyway Bridge perched on the bow of the freighter Summit Venture after the vessel rammed the bridge during a thunderstorm at Tampa Bay, Florida, causing 34 deaths. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

PREVIOUS: 40 years later, filmmakers hope to dispel myths about Skyway Bridge disaster

Local perspective:

No matter how many years pass, the images remain as clear to Bob Raiola as they were on May 9, 1980.

"It was literally something that you see in the disaster movies," Raiola told FOX 13 on Friday. "Never in my wildest dreams would I imagine coming up on the bridge and seeing a large vessel still stuck underneath the bridge."

Raiola was an underwater bridge inspector for the Florida Department of Transportation and was already scheduled to go to the Skyway Bridge that morning. His day, however, quickly changed when he learned the freighter had crashed into the bridge, causing a 1,200-foot section to collapse.

Several cars and Greyhound bus plummeted in the water, killing 35 people. Raiola described a recovery and response effort that seemed endless.

Previous: 1980 Sunshine Skyway Bridge tragedy

FOX 13's Lloyd Sowers looks back at the impact of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge disaster on May 9, 1980.

"We were in the water probably six hours a day. We were out there for about three weeks straight," he said, adding the experience still haunts him. "I think the biggest thing was the loss of the victims."

The event took an incomprehensible toll on Raiola, and many others who responded to the scene.

"For four decades we were completely silent. We didn't even talk about it between ourselves," he said.

What they're saying:

Several of them finally opened up about it five years ago, in a documentary about the collapse called "The Skyway Bridge Disaster." It was co-produced by attorney Steve Yerrid, who defended John Lerro, the harbor pilot who was guiding the ship.

According to the film, Lerro was made a scapegoat and never recovered from it before his death in 2002.

"[Lerro] had glimpses of exoneration, but he always looked at the tragedy as something that he blamed himself for. Although we proved it was an act of God, meaning nothing humanly possible could change the outcome," Yerrid told FOX 13 during an interview in 2020.

New Skyway Bridge built

What's Changed:

The new Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge opened in 1987 with numerous safety enhancements to safeguard against collisions. The bridge was elevated, the channel was widened and features such as large concrete barriers – known as "dolphins" – were added.

Pictured: Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

Remaining sections of the old bridge were converted into Skyway Fishing Pier State Park, which opened in 1994.

What they're saying:

As for Raiola, he's changed too; finally talking about the tragedy and trauma has helped him heal.

"I think the big thing is that no matter how old you are, you still learn, or else it's not worth getting up in the morning, in my opinion," Raiola said.

NTSB wants current bridge evaluated

Dig deeper:

In March, the National Transportation Safety Board included the Sunshine Skyway Bridge on its list of 68 bridges the agency wants to undergo vulnerability assessments.

The NTSB's list is part of an effort to figure out if bridges built before 1991, when new safety standards were set, are at risk of collapse should they be hit by a vessel.

The agency emphasized that the bridges on the list do not face an immediate risk of collapsing.

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The Source: This story was written with information from the State of Florida and previous FOX 13 News reports.

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