On October 15, 2003, at 3:21 p.m. EDT, the Staten Island Ferry vessel Andrew J. Barberi crashed full-speed into a concrete maintenance pier at the St. George Terminal in Upper New York Bay.

[1][2] Pilot Richard J. Smith and New York City ferry director Patrick Ryan pleaded guilty and were jailed for seaman's manslaughter.

[2] The pier ripped into the ferry's starboard side and tore into the boat's main deck where many passengers were crowding forward to disembark.

The collision left a number of victims trapped in a pile of metal, glass, and splintered wood, while other passengers jumped overboard.

Smith was charged with eleven counts of seaman's manslaughter as well as making false statements in his medical report when applying to the U.S. Coast Guard for a renewal of his pilot's license.

The city's ferry director, Patrick Ryan, was also charged with seaman's manslaughter and making false statements arising from his failure to enforce the two-pilot rule.

John Mauldin, the port captain, was charged with obstruction of justice and lying to investigators; he falsely claimed that information regarding the two-pilot rule had been distributed to employees.

"[13] Despite these rulings and a similar, independent federal probation report by officer Tony Garoppolo into the culpability of the ferry service's upper management, in which he viewed "the lion's share of culpability in this case as resting with the high level management of the Ferry Service", no other employees of the New York City Department of Transportation were prosecuted.