ROME -- The captain of the shipwrecked Costa Concordia said in an interview broadcast Tuesday that he was distracted by a phone conversation shortly before the cruise liner crashed into a reef off an Italian island and capsized, killing 32 people.
Francesco Schettino described the collision to private Italian TV channel Canale 5 as a "banal accident" in which "destiny" played a role.
Full article hereThe stories Schettino continues to produce in a poor attempt to defend himself and his actions are getting less and less amusing. The guy knows he did wrong; he should admit to it, take his punishment, and pay his penalties, instead of continuing to make up ever more elaborate excuses. Once they get a hold of black box recordings from the Costa Concordia, all his lies will disappear. He knows it, and should stop trying to hide from it. The idea of him talking on a cell phone while in charge of navigation of a sea faring vessel is just ridiculous, anyway. People can't talk and drive a car successfully, and he wants to do this with a cruise liner? Is he insane? There most certainly is something wrong with his head, and at this point, a plead of insanity might be the only way out for him (not that I think such a move would work, but given how crazy his stories are, he could almost make a case for it based off of that alone). For the sake of the 32 who lost their lives due to Schettino's carelessness, I hope they are finally able to resolve this tragedy and put Schettino where he belongs; in prison.