Captain in Fatal Ferry Crash Fired
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NEW YORK — The captain of the Staten Island ferry that crashed last month has been fired by the city’s Department of Transportation.
In a brief statement Thursday night, department spokesman Tom Cocola said Michael Gansas “will not be on the Department of Transportation’s payroll” today. The department suspended Gansas without pay Oct. 22 for refusing to cooperate with investigators probing the Oct. 15 crash that killed 10 passengers and injured dozens of others.
In a statement to police following the accident, Gansas said he had tried to pull Assistant Capt. Richard Smith, who was piloting the ferry before it crashed into a maintenance pier in Staten Island. But city officials have said Gansas was not in the pilothouse at the time, a violation of city regulations.
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