Baseless conspiracy theories about the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On March 26, 2024, at 01:27 EDT, the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed after one of its support pillars was struck by the container ship M.V. Dali. Eight construction workers were filling potholes on the bridge. Two were rescued, and the other six died.There is an AP article by Ben Finley and James Pollard on March 30, 2024 titled What we know about the Baltimore bridge collapse.

Almost immediately there were claims it was a terrorist act. On the Coast-to-Coast-AM radio show, John M. Curtis (who writes as Online Columnist) claimed ISIS-K was responsible. An article by Tess Owen at The Guardian on March 27, 2024 is titled Online conspiracy circles galvanize to proclaim Baltimore bridge collapse a ‘black swan event.’ But when you look up the Wikipedia page on Black swan theory, you will find that a Black Swan event:

 

“First, it is an outlier, as it lies outside of the realm of regular expectations, because nothing in the past can convincingly point to its possibility. Second, it carries an extreme ‘impact.’ Third, in spite of its outlier status, human nature makes us concoct explanations for its occurrence after the fact, making it explainable and predictable.”

 

The Key Bridge collapse was NOT the first event of its type, so it is certainly NOT a Black Swan. Back on May 9, 1980 the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Lower Tampa Bay collapsed after being hit by a ship. 35 people died. On April 17, 2023 I blogged about A great video course on Epic Engineering Failures and the Lessons They Teach. In the course that Tampa event is discussed under #6, Vehicle Collisions.   

 

There are other articles lamenting all of these online conspiracies. One by Mary Whitfill Roeloffs at Forbes on March 27, 2024 is titled Baltimore bridge collapse sparks wild conspiracies – even though officials continue to dispel them. A second by David Gilbert at Wired on March 27, 2024 is titled Online conspiracies about the Baltimore bridge collapse are out of control. And a third by A.W. Ohlheiser at Vox on March 28, 2024 is titled The slow death of Twitter is measured in disasters like the Baltimore bridge collapse. There also is a ten-minute YouTube video by Donie O’Sullivan at CNN titled ‘Ridiculous’: Reporter reacts to conspiracy theories about Baltimore bridge collapse.

 

A later article by Ramon Padilla, Trevor Hughes, and Shawn J. Sullivan at USA Today on March 29, 2024 is titled How Francis Scott Key Bridge was lost: A minute-by-minute visual analysis of the collapse. It looks more like a complicated accident.

 

Before and after Images of the bridge are from Wikimedia Commons.